


Matchmaker

by thunder_fish



Category: Ben 10 Series, Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, Codename: Kids Next Door, Dexter's Laboratory, Ed Edd n Eddy, FusionFall
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-21 15:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 38,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1554980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunder_fish/pseuds/thunder_fish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There's no denying it's better and healthier for you to be with someone." Ben raised his finger in a sharp gesture to stop Nigel's protest before it began. "You don't eat enough, you don't sleep enough, and you need someone that will get your mind off of KND stuff now and then and just let you have fun. You know, be a kid with a small 'k.'"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nothing Left to Say

"NIGEL UNO!"

The piercing shriek seemed to fill the entire cafeteria, momentarily silencing all conversation as the crowds of child soldiers and DexLabs employees and other sundry creatures looked up in surprise. After the initial shock a small murmur rose up as a pert girl marched into the large room, clearly on the warpath. All eyes turned to watch, surprise fading into something not very far removed from distaste at the display of teenage drama amidst a crowd of Kids.

Seated in a booth in the far corner of the cafeteria, Nigel Uno, code named Number One, drew a deep breath at the shout. He closed his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, collecting and bracing himself. His companions – Number Two, Edd, and Ben – grew tense and stopped eating as another ear-splitter rang out.

"Nigie!"

"Has she spotted us?" murmured Hoagie, poised to dive under the table to escape.

Ben grimaced. "My jacket's pretty hard to miss."

"Would you prefer that we leave?" Edd asked softly, flinching at another shout.

Nigel sighed. "No. I'd rather have witnesses."

"I could turn into Goop and really gross her out," volunteered Tennyson, more serious than not.

For a moment, Nigel was tempted by the offer. "No. No. Let's get this over with."

The comment and his tone made his three companions exchange surprised (and in Number Two's case, hopeful) glances. They all shifted in their seats as Lizzie Devine came stalking up to them, loaded for bear (or KND Supreme Leaders). A petite teenage girl with braided brown hair and glasses, her scowling attitude and hearty glares momentarily negated any claim she had to attractiveness. He knew his friends couldn't see why they had been going together for so long, and not for the first time of late, Nigel wondered the same thing.

They had been dating for years, though of late Lizzie had become even clingier and more demanding than normal. Always resentful of Nigel's devotion to the KND, she had tried in vain for all those years to shift that devotion to her. It was a losing battle and always had been, but Lizzie refused to give up and so had led Nigel on a merry dance. Now that they had lost contact with the Moon Base and Number 362, Nigel had become the de facto Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door on earth. His responsibilities had increased exponentially, as had his stress levels. Lizzie, rather than offering support, refused to believe that she was not the foremost priority in his life as she claimed he was in hers. She was not an active participant in the fight against Planet Fusion and had little appreciation for the pressures and hardships of running a war.

"There you are!" snapped Lizzie, her brown eyes flashing behind her glasses. "Did you think you could hide?"

"I wasn't trying," Nigel replied evenly, knowing she wanted a loud scene. It was the last thing he wanted or needed, and so refused to rise to the bait.

She leaned across the table toward his corner of the booth. Ben very deliberately reached out and lifted his smoothie from the center of the table, forcing her to back down or get between a man and his beverage. She cast a narrow-eyed look at him, but Tennyson was clearly anything but impressed as he sipped his smoothie.

"Where were you last night?"

"DexLabs Medical with the Royal Canadian KND Flying Corp commander and what was left of her team."

By her skeptical expression, she didn't hear what Nigel was actually saying, didn't recognize the sheer tragedy of his words, and didn't believe that anything could be more important than what she had to say. It suddenly occurred to him that she had never really heard him.

"Her?" Lizzie echoed.

"Yes. 998 is female."

"You spent last night with another girl."

"I spent last night sitting up with a fellow KND operative who sustained a broken collar bone and burns over 30% of her body after she and her team were ambushed by some Dragon Fries over Hicksville."

"Dragon Fries?" she questioned sarcastically.

"Fourteen foot wingspan, spits gobs of acid," volunteered Ben, but Lizzie ignored him.

"You have time for another girl, time for all your little boyfriends, but you don't have time for me."

Number One glanced at his friends who stuck to him so loyally in the face of her wrath. He should be so fortunate as to call any of these young men his boyfriend, mused Nigel Uno. The notion distracted him so completely that he didn't bother responding to the jab.

"We had a date," she stated, annoyed that she was having little effect on him.

With a frown Nigel thought hard and fast, trying to remember setting up anything like that. "No, we didn't."

Meeting his frown with a patronizing pout, Lizzie folded her arms across her chest and said, "Last night was Sunday. The first Sunday of the month. We always go out for ice cream the first Sunday of the month, Nigel."

"We do?" he wondered, genuinely surprised.

"Well, we did until last night," she said with equal amounts of piss and vinegar in her tone.

As if he would be conscious of such a thing. Probably they had gone out once, possibly twice by pure chance, and now she thought it was a routine. Suddenly bone weary, Nigel said, "I'm sorry if you were waiting. You should have contacted me."

Not that it would have changed anything. How could it? Three of 998's team had been killed, all the others had been injured one way or another, two of them critically, and he had sat there all night as an excellent and highly capable team leader learned the agony of losing not just people she loved, but faith in herself.

"I shouldn't have to," was her quick reply.

"Obviously, you do."

"Why do I have to do everything?" she demanded. "Why am I the one always chasing after you to do things?"

Why did they always have to _do_ something? What was wrong with just . . . being together?

"Uh, Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door?" suggested Hoagie, pointing at his best friend.

"We're fighting a war here, Lizzie," Ben said sternly, rising to the Supreme Leader's defense.

She gave them all a scornful sneer. "If this is your idea of fighting a war, we've as good as lost."

While most people in the cafeteria had been listening for the fun of it, the audience's attitude suddenly shifted to something dark and highly unwelcoming. It was one thing to watch a dramatic breakup, it was quite another to have someone who wasn't even directly involved with the war insult them, their efforts, and their leaders. The silence was absolute. Lizzie noticed the bristling hostility aimed her way and did her best to share her ire with everyone.

"So keep up the good work, Nigie. You have to be a better leader than you were a boyfriend. You couldn't possibly be worse."

She paused, waiting. This was where, in the past, Nigel would have begged and pleaded and promised anything to get her to stay with him. He knew that about himself. While he did work well alone, he did not like to be lonely. Normally he had his team around him, but since taking over as Supreme Leader he had been forced to scatter his command team in order to utilize their years of skill and knowledge in training new recruits. Lizzie had been a constant, a habit even, but lately even when he was with her, his loneliness persisted.

It seemed the time had come to break the habit. Lizzie was in for a disappointment. She had never really tried to understand him, but had bent all her energies on trying to make him what she wanted. Nigel was done. He was tired mentally, physically, and emotionally, and he didn't want to do this anymore. It wasn't worth it. He thought of Ben, whom he rightly guessed was in a secret relationship with Dexter, and he felt a pang of envy not for _what_ Ben had, but for _how_ he had it. It was a difficult example to live with because Ben was blissfully happy and in love. Clearly he and Dexter shared a strong, healthy bond that was deeply satisfying for them both and therefore good for DexLabs and the war effort. What would it take to have that for himself? What did it feel like to be happily in love? He wished he knew.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie," he said quietly. He meant to sound apologetic, but somehow his words came out as a dismissal. "You're right. I _am_ a better leader than a boyfriend."

Number Two was almost glowing with delight at being at ground zero for the Lizzie/Nigel showdown. He dumped gasoline on the fire as he said in the tiniest of whispers that only Lizzie could hear:

_"Zing!"_

Never a fan of Hoagie Gilligan, she shot Number Two a dirty look. Unfazed by her disdain, Hoagie sipped his sweet tea and enjoyed the show, sensing before she did that things were not going to go as she expected, as they had time and again in the past.

Rather than make a scene and fight for Lizzie's forgiveness, Nigel simply sat still, waiting for her to catch up and realize exactly what he had said. It was a move so unorthodox in their up-and-down relationship that it took a few long seconds for her to realize that this was it. There was not going to be any drawn-out arguments, no promises of better behavior or begging for reconciliation. He was through with that. There were greater issues to deal with than Lizzie Devine's idea of how she should be treated, starting with a war and, far down the line, ending with Nigel Uno's wants and needs from a relationship.

"Well?"

"Well what?" goaded Hoagie when no one else bothered to answer her.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she demanded of Nigel.

"What more can I possibly say, Lizzie?" Number One asked softly.

She drew in a deep breath, opened her mouth to speak, and paused. Lizzie was no fool. Clearly it dawned on her that anything she might say, any argument she might voice, had already been negated. He had apologized, agreed with her, and reaffirmed his rank and position. If she yelled or demanded anything more, she would be acting the complete shrew in front of Nigel, his cronies, and hundreds of witnesses. Caught in her own trap, unwilling to make more of spectacle of herself (even though, had things gone according to her plan, that's what she would have done to Nigel), Lizzie raised her chin in a show of defiant indifference. Ben Tennyson did nothing to help the situation as he noisily sucked up the last few drops of his smoothie through a straw, watching with open interest.

"Don't bother saying anything, Nigel," she snapped as if he'd been about to speak, which he hadn't. Lizzie turned to leave, throwing out a final shot, "I hope you and your _boyfriends_ have fun without me."

"We will," Hoagie threw right back, his cheerful tone effectively nullifying her implied slander.

Only Edd watched her walk away, and even then it was just to make sure she left. He made a face, relieved she was gone, and he and Ben and Hoagie exchanged concerned looks as Number One let out a long and weary sigh, and then pushed his half-finished plate of food away from him.

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

"Dude, you've got to eat."

Number One shook his head. "I appreciate your concern, Ben, but I'm not hungry. I mean that," he added quickly, catching hid friend's eye. "I'm honestly not hungry."

Figuring a break up - even if it came as a relief - merited some time feeling blue, Ben let it slide. He wasn't totally convinced, but he also didn't want to apply pressure and possibly make things worse.

"I should have seen this coming," said Nigel, pulling off his sunglasses to rub his eyes.

"If you had, would you still be going out?"

The newly appointed leader of the Kids Next Door sat back in the booth, considering. It was quite late in the afternoon and he and Ben had lingered in the cafeteria until it gradually emptied, giving them some degree of privacy. "No," he finally said in a quiet voice. "I'd rather Lizzie find someone that can make her happy."

"Good luck with that," muttered Ben, leaning on his hand.

"You have no idea how fortunate you are. I envy you."

He knew what Nigel wasn't saying. Only a tiny handful of people knew about him and Dexter, and of that handful, only two (that he knew of) had figured them out. Sgt. Morton was one and Ben was presently drinking coffee with the other.

"Actually, I do know," corrected Ben, sobering a bit. "But that's only because I lost it once. That'll never happen again."

"Good. You deserve that happiness."

"What, like you don't?"

Nigel shrugged. "Apparently I'm not good boyfriend stock."

"Pfft. For Lizzie, maybe. I bet they'd be lined up around the block to date you."

Number One snorted in quiet disbelief at the notion. "Be that as it may, I've got too much to do and it takes time and energy to find a date."

"Oh, c'mon! Your schedule is at least as bad as mine. So add getting a significant other to your to-do list."

"Exactly. I don't have time for this sort of thing."

"My point exactly, Nigel."

They were talking in circles. Number One frowned, trying to figure out Ben's meaning as he returned his glasses to his face.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Leave it to me," Ben said impulsively.

"Leave what to you?"

"Let me do the sorting out and I'll come up with a short list of potential dates."

Number One looked over the brim of his sunglasses in disbelief. "You. A dating service."

Ben grinned. "Sure! You won't have anything to worry about."

He leaned into his hand, shaking his head. "Every alarm bell I have is going off full blast."

"You must not have too many because I can't hear 'em," Ben replied, shifting to lean close to his friend. His voice dropped to a whisper, just in case anyone could overhear. "Dude, there's no denying it's better and healthier for you to be with someone." He raised his finger in a sharp gesture to stop the KND's protest before it began. "You don't eat enough, you don't sleep enough, and you need someone that will get your mind off of KND stuff now and then and just let you have fun. You know, be a kid with a small 'k.' Especially now that you've been promoted."

Unable to argue, Nigel made a face. "Good luck finding that person."

"Hey, I managed it. Luckily I found someone with the patience of a saint that _wants_ to be with me. If I can do it, you'll be a snap. When's a good time for you?"

"For what?"

"Uh, fun?"

"I'll be in the field until Friday afternoon," Nigel said. "That's fun."

He made a face. "No, it's not. Friday night date, then," decided Ben, the very picture of confidence. "Don't make any plans. Any preferences? Blondes? Tall? Short? Male? Female? Get your order in now. And no wanting to go out with any of my aliens."

He rolled his eyes at the notion, certain his dear friend had no idea of what he was getting himself into. "I'm not fussy. No aliens. Or animals. Or anything programmable. And I'm not overly fond of anything from the pits of hell."

"No Demongo, then. Can't say as I blame you. I thought you weren't fussy."

"I'm not. I just have standards."

"Gotcha. I'll be in touch." He stood, preparing to leave. "Don't get hurt, okay? You've got a date Friday night."

There was no way he'd be able to stop the older teen. Once his mind was set on a task, no matter how hopeless or stupid, Ben would not be swayed. Nigel Uno sighed and watched him leave, unable to believe anything good could possibly come of Ben Tennyson setting him up on a date.


	2. Application

"It was awful. Right in the middle of the cafeteria, she ripped into him like nobody's business."

Ben was hindering Dexter as they set the table for dinner. OCD in the extreme when it came to such things, Dexter was following behind Ben and fixing it so that every plate and glass and piece of silverware was set out with mathematical precision. Completely used to such anal conduct out of his boyfriend, Ben thought nothing of it. It was easier just to let Dexter fuss. Besides, it gave them some time alone and in the end the dinner table would look like something out of a magazine. Dexter's presence in the suite at this time of day was reassuring – it meant he was caught up enough with his work and homework to devote an evening to his family and, better still, his boyfriend.

"Did Nigel defend himself?" Dexter asked softly. While not as close to the KND leader as Ben, Dexter knew and liked Nigel and communicated with him often. He had a rare and healthy respect for the young man's leadership skills, dedication, and ability to use mostly correct punctuation in his reports.

"A bit. He definitely got in the decisive salvo. It took her a bit to figure out he'd sunk her battleship. I think he just gave up, really. He and Lizzie have had their ups and downs. I think he's always felt guilty about having to run off on her for missions and stuff."

"A fact she exploited."

"Yeah. She wanted the relationship more than he did. From the look of things lately she's been pretty demanding of his time."

"Do you know if she's ever tried to appreciate his position?"

Ben made a face. "Doubt it. Lizzie wants what she wants, when she wants it."

"She's jealous of the KND in its entirety," reasoned Dexter, impressed at how much she'd bitten off.

"Like Nigel wanted to be saddled with the whole organization."

"Didn't he?" questioned Dexter, looking up from his efforts to align two sets of salt and pepper shakers on opposite corners of the table. "He could have said no."

The brunet made a face. "Not really. Who else could take over now that we've lost touch with the moon?"

"Number Five is highly capable."

Coming from the founder of DexLabs and DexCorp, that was high praise. Ben set about nudging a fork in one of Dexter's perfect place settings just to keep him occupied. "Nigel's more capable. Besides, she doesn't want command."

The Boy Genius nodded, swatting Ben's hands away from his latest masterpiece. "Do you think Ms. Devine was trying to force him to choose between her and the Kids Next Door?"

"If she was, it was some pretty poor strategy."

"Ultimatums rarely have the desired effect." He looked up at Ben. "How is Nigel taking this break-up?"

"He's as upset as he is relieved, I think."

"Then they were not a good match."

Ben smiled fondly, thinking of how perfectly matched he and Dexter were despite their many differences and how many lessons it had taken for him to realize as much. Catching the look, Dexter smiled back, knowing exactly what Ben was thinking and silently agreeing.

"No. But this brings us to another problem."

"Getting used to command?" suggested Dexter, shifting the butter dish a fraction of an inch. He stood back to study the results with a critical eye, then edged it back where it had started.

"That's not a problem. He can handle being KND Supreme Leader."

"So what's your concern?"

"His health. If nothing else, Lizzie made sure he slowed down long enough to eat now and then."

Alerted by his boyfriend's tone, Dexter waited, wordlessly inviting Ben to keep talking. Knowing he could trust Dexter absolutely, Ben nonetheless said, "This can't go past this room, Dex, but Nigel's got some issues."

Dexter, who through personal experience understood the many nuances of _issues_ very well, lay off arranging the butter dish. He ran through a mental list of everything he knew about Nigel Uno and possible triggers before he quietly asked, "With a mirror or food?"

"Yes."

"Is it the lack of hair?"

"Not even."

"Body image?"

He nodded. "There was some incident with the Delightful Children at the beach a few years back. The rest of Sector V teasing him about it made him self-conscious to the point that he didn't want to eat anything."

"Is that why you two always get together for food when you're here?"

"Yeah. If he's got company, he'll usually eat. Leave him alone, he's worse than you."

"Oh, that is bad," agreed the Boy Genius, in no way insulted. It wasn't that Dexter was averse to eating, he just couldn't do it in his laboratory and when he got on a scientific tear there was no prying him out of there. Food was not a priority in his life, and Professor Utonium spent a great deal of time trying to get Dexter to eat anything at all, let alone a balanced diet.

"Yeah, but in your case it's just a lack of interest, not anything psychological."

"Most of the time," corrected Dexter gamely. He suffered from severe depression and a number of phobias that could and did affect his health directly, but he, his family, and his boyfriend were quite adept at dealing with those problems. "Teasing . . . can do a lot of damage. Words can hurt worse than blows, and the marks don't always fade."

"I know," he replied, knowing exactly where Dexter was coming from. "I don't want him to mope or to get off his feed. We don't have time for that and he's too important to let this affect him."

"Not to mention Lizzie must be denied victory of any sort at all costs."

"And that, yeah. He's my friend. I want him happy."

Dexter nodded his understanding of this simple wish. "So . . . what's your solution?"

He had been waiting for this opening. "I'm going to find someone to go out with him."

Dexter stared, unknowingly giving Ben the exact same look of shocked disbelief that Nigel had only an hour before.

"You? You will find Nigel a date? Is he okay with you doing this?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dex!" he defended. "Why is it so impossible that I find someone to go out with my friend?"

"Because your pickup lines suck, Benjamin."

"Hey!"

"And I quote, _Pincerless biped of superior, rosen-hued intelligence, may I dance in your footsteps that we may be one?_ End quote." He gave Ben a pointed look, his blue eyes glittering with mischievous amusement. "Shall I go on?"

Ben blushed, still embarrassed at the memory of Brainstorm's horribly awkward attempt to woo Dexter. "Not fair! I am not responsible for anything some lovesick Cerebrocrustatian spews out!" A thought struck him. "And, hey! You were considering it! So it didn't suck that badly."

Dexter broke into a broad smile, delighted at having gotten a rise out of Ben. He was one of the few people Dexter could safely tease, seeing as how most people didn't get his sense of humor. "Such lauds could only possibly appeal to me. Besides, I couldn't see any other way to shut you up, my love."

"I am so going to exploit that fact," Ben shot back.

"Oh, please do," begged Dexter without skipping a beat.

"Bet on it, kiddo."

"Tonight?"

"Promise."

Dexter gave him a sly and happy look and went back to needlessly fussing over the table settings. "So what's the plan?"

"Uh . . . good question. Any ideas, Mr. CEO?"

At the mention of his title, Dexter snapped in business mogul mode. "You need to find and screen likely candidates based on Nigel's preferences and needs."

"Okay. Keep talking. How do we find these people?"

Surprised to find himself included on the scheme, let alone the one in charge, Dexter blinked. Used to running a corporation, he fell back on what he knew. "Applications? Personal recommendations? Resumés?"

Ben considered. Never having applied for a job, he was at a bit of a loss but was willing to go with whatever Dexter might devise. "Applications?" he echoed.

"They have the advantage of attracting a wide range of candidates."

"What are the disadvantages?"

"They attract a wide range of candidates."

"Gotcha. Well, we've only got five days. We've got to come up with some sort of Nigel-centric questionnaire."

"What specifications did he have?"

"No aliens, animals, robots, or anything from Hell."

"He wasn't gender-specific?"

"Nope."

"Good. That will open the field of applicants even more." Behind thick lenses, Dexter's eyes narrowed. "I reserve the right to screen the applications first."

Ben sucked in a deep breath, ready to protest. Dexter cut him off with ruthless finality, and in two words went straight for the jugular:

"Spelling counts."

The brunet gaped. Dexter dug in his heels.

"I won't allow Nigel to date a moron."

"Okay." He raised his hands, willing to cede the point. "Okay, but don't be too hard on the punctuation. We won't have anyone to interview."

It was Dexter's turn to give, and he did so with considerably less grace than his boyfriend. "Fine. But if they want to date the KND Supreme Leader, then perhaps they shouldn't have goofed off in English class in the first place."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

"So," Professor Utonium said, serving himself some lasagna, "How was everyone's day?"

"I finished reading the first Harry Potter book in Mandarin," volunteered Blossom, adding another meatball to her plate.

"I rescued a kitten from up a tree in DownTown Park," Bubbles said, getting crazy with the Parmesan cheese.

"I kicked the Fusion Buttercup's butt back to Shelbyville when she showed up this afternoon," gloated Buttercup, drowning her lasagna in marinara.

"I isolated the base components of an acid that will dissolve cement in seconds," Dexter added, sneaking another serving of salad.

"I told Nigel I'd find him a date for Friday night after Lizzie dumped him," said Ben and sent crumbs wide as he bit into some garlic bread.

There was a noticeable pause as all the Utoniums tried to absorb this particularly fantastic statement. All eyes turned on Ben, who munched away happily, well on his way to a world-class case of dragon breath. They all knew and liked Nigel, and so this news came as quite the surprise, the breakup as much as Ben's plan.

The Professor recovered first. "Care to expand on that?"

Ben's mouth being full of garlic bread, Dexter spoke before his boyfriend could even try to force the words past the half-chewed mass.

"Apparently Lizzie once again reached the end of her tolerance for not being Nigel's first priority. She broke up with him in the cafeteria today while it was at its busiest point."

Ben made a noise, pointing and nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, nobody saw _that_ coming," smirked Buttercup.

"Well, it's far better and healthier for Nigel to have someone looking after him," continued Dexter, skipping over the reasons behind this statement. He glanced at Ben, nudging his foot under the table. "I can say this with authority based on personal experience."

"Yeah, well, you'd better eat some garlic bread too, Mr. Personal Experience," Buttercup advised as Ben mowed down on another piece of the strong-smelling stuff. "Before you get fumigated."

With a little hum of agreement (and concern), the redhead continued. "Ben has proposed -"

Had he dropped a live grenade on the table, the Powerpuff Girls could not have reacted faster. Ear-splitting squeals erupted from all sides as his words were completely, enthusiastically misinterpreted.

_"He has?"_

_"He did?"_

_"When's the wedding?"_

"What?" wondered Dexter, stunned.

"Letmeseethering! Letmeseethering!" begged Bubbles, grabbing his hand.

Beside him, Ben struggled to swallow without choking.

"I'm so happy for you! When's the wedding?" demanded Blossom.

"Screw that!" yelled Buttercup. "Who's the bride?"

"Ooooh! Oooh! Oooh! I can't believe I haven't written any fanfic for this yet!" Bubbles gushed, producing more happy squeals from the girls and agonized groans from the boys.

At the head of the table, Patrick Utonium fought to contain his laughter. "Girls, calm down. I don't think it's _that_ sort of proposal. Am I right, Ben?"

"Yes!" squeaked the Wielder of the Omnitrix, getting his panic under control.

Disappointed whines rose up and the Powerpuff Girls slumped back to their chairs.

"There's a lesson there, Dexter," warned his guardian.

"Ja," agreed the genius. "In rhetoric."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

They snuggled together on a loveseat in the great room of the suite, pouring over the tablet in Dexter's hands as they tackled the problem of getting Nigel a date. Once it was explained to them, Dexter's sisters were delighted with the project and were itching to see the results. Ben suspected Nigel was already guest starring in some of Bubbles' stories. The Professor was simply amused and sat back to enjoy the show.

"So. Here's the finalized form. It's pretty basic." As he spoke Dexter handed over the tablet to Ben, then leaned heavily against him to gauge his reaction. "I'm placing you in charge of marketing."

"Can I borrow Computress to get the word out?"

"Yes. We can also utilize Dexbots in the distribution and collection of the applications."

"Sweet."

He looked at the application. True to form, Dexter had a disclaimer relieving him, Ben, Nigel, and DexLabs of any responsibility and that filling out the form did not guarantee a date with Nigel. Confidentiality was confirmed, as was the timeline.

"We have to move fast. Interviews are Thursday and Friday. You can use the private dining room off the cafeteria."

"Interviews?" asked Ben.

"Ben, you can't just hand Nigel over to someone _we_ can't stand," insisted the redhead as if this was the most obvious thing imaginable. "We're trying to avoid a second Lizzie."

That made sense. Maybe he could lasso Hoagie or Edd into helping him. This was turning out more complex than he'd anticipated, but the whole idea had been an impulsive one and no one could accuse Benjamin Kirby Tennyson of thinking things through to the end (though Dexter could be relied upon to overthink everything). He looked at the list of questions they had come up with, pressing a hand to his mouth as he concentrated.

**All answers must be written in blue ink. Please write clearly.**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Affiliation:**

**Sex:**

**Contact number or email:**

**What do you know about Nigel Uno?**

**Why do you want to go out with him?**

**Why would he want to go out with you?**

**What is your idea of a perfect date?**

**Are you familiar with the KND? Do you have any issue with being stood up because of missions? Battles? Top secret tasks that can't be divulged?**

**What likes and dislikes do you have? Please list all weird habits.**

"What's this about using blue ink? You got stock in it?"

"That's just to see who's paying attention and following directions."

"Dex . . ."

"Fine. Take it out."

Shaking his head, Ben did so. "Looks good to me."

He took the tablet back. "Computress will print them up. How many would you like?"

"I dunno. Let's start with a hundred, just to be on the safe side."

Dexter blinked, a bit concerned about the quantity, but trusting Ben, he hit the print button. "A hundred it is, my love."


	3. Screening Room

"Dexter?"

"Mmm?" he grunted, intent on the projected screen before him as he typed. After a moment he absently added, "What is it, Computress?"

"Commander Tennyson is requesting another two hundred applications."

Dexter paused, processing. "That's the third time he's asked for more."

"Fourth," corrected the super computer.

"How many applications has he distributed?"

"Since he updated the form, 362 . . . 365 . . ."

Dexter's jaw dropped. 365 applications handed out on top of the initial hundred and Ben wanted _more?_ It took a moment for him to recover, and to buy himself time he said,

"He updated it? Show me."

Computress projected the form in the air before him. Dexter was amused to see Ben had replaced the line about using blue ink. He had also added a few more questions to refine the process. They were clumsy, blunt, and effective. In short, very Ben.

**What are you? Please name your species.**

**Do you even know who Number One is?**

**Are you available this Friday night?**

**Please list any other relevant facts we should know about you.**

"Where is Ben now?"

"The corporate cafeteria."

"Raise him for me, Computress," he said, abandoning his chair and moving over to stand on the holoprojector, the better to give his boyfriend a talking to.

"Commander Tennyson," announced Computress, projecting Ben's image before Dexter. In his hands was a slim stack of paper and even as he came into focus, Ben was handing out applications. The scientist couldn't help but be pleased to see Ben looked somewhat frazzled. It was a look he usually wore when beset by fangirls.

"Hey, Dex," he said as a foot-high image of Dexter was projected just before him, right at eye level so that he couldn't miss it.

"Benjamin, are you trying to bury me in paperwork?"

"Uh . . . am I?" asked Ben, not sure of what he was up against yet.

"How many applications have you distributed?"

"Uh . . . lots," he said, cluing in on the source of Dexter's annoyance.

"419," provided Computress. "422."

Ben looked impressed. "What can I say? Nigel's a popular guy."

"Stop," ordered Dexter.

"But-"

"Benjamin, we still need to collect, read, and process all those forms by Friday! I thought a hundred was a lot!"

"Really?"

"Obviously you've never been on the business end of the hiring process. Has it occurred to you that perhaps this immediate campaign is too successful?"

"Is that possible?"

"Yes. Stop."

"But-"

"Now."

Ben opened his mouth to speak. In his moment of distraction, someone reached out and snatched the rest of the applications out of his hand. A few fell to the ground at his feet and Dexter could hear the sounds of girls arguing over the papers.

"449," said Computress as Ben leaned over and picked up the one remaining application, only to have a squealing girl snatch it away. "450."

"I suggest you recruit a few assistants, Commander," said Dexter loftily. "Send me the applications via Dexbot as they're returned. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Dexter out."

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

Ben glowered a bit as the hologram of Dexter vanished. Maybe it was payback for those four pieces of garlic bread he'd eaten last night, but Dexter was clearly in a sour mood. Ben wasn't too concerned. Dexter's anger burned out quickly, like a firecracker, and he knew that by dinner time his boyfriend would be his usual cute and cranky self. Even if he was still angry, Ben knew exactly where on Dexter's neck to nibble in order to make him giggle, and once he did something so undignified he couldn't hold on to a bad mood.

"Tennyson, are you out of your pea brain? What are you thinking?"

He stopped just past the cafeteria doors and turned to see Abby Lincoln, more commonly known as Number Five, standing behind him. Her hands were on her hips and everything about her stance told him he was in trouble even if he wasn't sure why. He'd seen that body language on his mom too often to mistake it for anything less.

"I'm thinking I should have had the pizza for lunch, not the cheese steak."

Even if her eyes weren't visible under the brim of her hat, he knew she was glaring. He could feel the burn. In a sharp gesture she raised her hand to display one of the applications.

"What is this?"

He took it from her. "An application."

"Number Five sees that. What are you up to?"

"Nigel doesn't have time to find someone to go out with, so I told him I'd find him a date."

"You? You'll find Number One a date?"

He raised both hands in frustration. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"You ain't exactly got a reputation in the dating circuit."

"That's a good thing," he replied glibly. He closed his hand on the paper, crushing it. "What, I can save the universe time and again but I can't be relied upon to find a date for my friend?"

"Pretty much." She scowled. "Don't you think this is a bit soon? Nigel's got enough on his plate."

"If only. That's exactly why I'm doing this, Abby." He moved closer, lowering his voice. "Lizzie wasn't a prize by any stretch, but she did get him to eat and kick back now and then. With Sector V split up like it is now, he needs someone to look after him. Someone he'll listen to because he wants to. Someone that gets him like Lizzie didn't!"

Number Five drew back, clasping her hands behind her back as she thought. The lack of immediate comeback told Ben his words had hit home. Suddenly her look grew sly. "He listens to you."

"I'm not an option."

"Too bad." She drew a deep breath. "Number Five will reserve judgment for now, but I'm watching you, Tennyson."

"A smoothie says you'll be impressed."

"If Number Five is impressed, it'll be a smoothie and chili fries for a week."

"You're on."

She pointed two fingers at her eyes, then swiveled them around to point at Ben in the universal _I've got my eye on you_ sign as she strode away, back into the cafeteria. Ben grinned, in no way daunted. Abby was a good friend and a good operative. Too bad she had to get back to her station or he would have recruited her to help sort through these applications . . . or fill one out.

"Commander Tennyson?"

He turned around at the quietly spoken words and found himself facing a young man about his own age. A bit taller than Ben, he was rather strikingly handsome, blond, and had the look of an athlete about him.

"Yeah. Hi."

Blondie smiled. "Word has it that you're taking applications to get a date for Nigel Uno," he said, and Ben was struck at the confidence in his voice and manner. The only other person under the age of thirty that Ben had met with such absolute assurance was Dexter. After dealing with rabid fangirls and a few equally rabid fanboys, it was a refreshing change.

"Yeah," he repeated, feeling safe enough to confide, "I think I might've bitten off more than I can chew."

"I doubt it," was the smooth reply. "I was wondering if I could get an application."

"Are you with the KND?"

"Sorta."

"You know Nigel?"

With a nod and a fond smile, Blondie said, "I do. We go back a long way."

That was interesting. Ben knew full well he'd never seen this guy before, but the calm demeanor and mature approach scored some major points after the female feeding frenzy he'd endured all morning. Without hesitation he held out the application he'd taken form Abby.

"Here. Last one. Sorry it's a bit mangled."

"That's fine," Blondie said, eagerly taking the crumpled form. Carefully smoothing it out, he glanced at it, then looked at Ben. "How should I get it back to you?"

"If you see me, I'll take it. If I'm not around, you can give it to any of the Dexbots buzzing around here. Dexter programmed them to get all the applications right back to him."

"Thank you. I'll get it back as soon as possible."

Ben smiled, finding the other teen's confidence rather infectious. "Cool," he said, then added, "Good luck."

Blondie returned the smile, appreciating the sentiment, but when Ben left, it was with the impression that luck was the last thing this particular young man needed.

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

Though he was technically at DexLabs on R&R, Ben got shanghaied by Mandy and spent a good chunk of the afternoon in a planning meeting with a few of the field commanders. He didn't mind too much since Dexter was engrossed with smelting all day. Mandy had gotten wind of his plan, and he was able to put another notch on the 'You're going to find a date for Nigel?' stick people kept beating him with. It wasn't until just before dinner time that he finally caught up with Dexter, flying out to the foundry on the far side of the campus a la Big Chill and catching a ride to the main building in the back of an SUV.

"Applications are pouring in," reported Dexter, still a little aloof.

"Have you looked at any of them?" asked Ben, contemplating a number of moves that would get his hand slapped since it was Lee driving them and not Morton.

"Several," he said blandly, then added, "Dozen."

"Anyone look promising?"

"Not even slightly."

"Ouch." Well, he'd started this. He had to see it through regardless of how painful. For the sake of the innocent guard driving them back to the headquarters building, Ben asked, "What were you up to at the foundry?"

"I was training my pet metal-eating termites to eat their way straight through armor plating versus their usual habit of dispersing across the surface of available metal. I have high hopes of them replacing the present cutting process employed on the Megabot production line."

He was almost sorry he'd asked. Ben slid down in his seat, trying to wrap his brain this fantastic statement. Patiently, Dexter waited. After a few moments, Ben found his voice and it was full of disbelief.

"You have pet termites."

"I do."

"That eat metal."

"That is correct."

"Termites."

"Yes."

Ben opened his mouth but couldn't think of what to say. Recognizing his dumbfounded awe, Dexter provided,

"Timmy and Tammy and generations of their progeny. I engineered them when I was eight."

He went on gaping at nothing. Finally he looked over at the poised and arrogant young man beside him in the purple gloves and white lab coat, and instead of laughing, silently mouthed _I love you._

Much of Dexter's coolness melted away in that instant. Dexter smirked and shook his head, trying not to give in too easily but already failing. Ben smiled, knowing he was forgiven any aggravation he'd caused his boyfriend.

Once inside DexLabs HQ, they walked towards the Utonium household, keeping their hands to themselves because of all the security cameras.

"Dad is taking the girls out to dinner tonight," said Dexter. "We can either raid the refrigerator or send to the cafeteria for dinner."

"Whatcha in the mood for?"

"Anodite hybrid."

"I can arrange that."

"Do so after we look at the day's tally of applications."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

"Next time we're making this sort of thing an invitational."

Ben eyed the piles of paper on the dining room table and felt a little pang. Even as they spoke, Dexbots whizzed in and out now and then to bring more applications.

"Nnnnyeah," he agreed. "So . . . how are we doing this?"

"I'm exercising my authority to complete the first round of screening. You can have the second."

"What're these, then?" Ben put his hand on a sizable stack of applications.

"That's the 'no' pile."

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but is there a 'yes' pile?"

Dexter pointed to a scant handful of papers removed from the crowd and placed on the sideboard. He wasn't sure if so few possibilities was good or bad. "That's it?"

"Yes."

"Uh . . . how about a 'maybe' pile?"

"Maybe?" echoed Dexter with a frown.

Ben tried not to squirm. "Yes?"

"No."

"Yes?"

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Maybe?"

"Fine, but they're your problem."

"Okay. We got a 'Pit of Hell' pile?"

"What do we need that for?"

"Anything like Demongo applying."

"Would that include the Kanker sisters?"

"Totally."

Dexter immediately pulled three applications off the top of the 'no' pile and tossed them on the floor for a Dexbot to clear away.

"Pit of Hell it is."

"So . . . what do they have to do to get into the 'yes' pile?"

"Answer the questions in a manner that indicates they read and understood them."

"How hard is that?"

Dexter cleared his throat and picked up a handful of papers, paging through them as he said, "On the question of sex, we have answers that include yes; no thank you; if I have to; if my mom says I can; you mean with Nigel?; often; if I can be the uke; only if he wears his socks and sunglasses; can I bring my boyfriend?"

Ben stared, slowly realizing what he had unleashed. Dexter plowed onwards.

"As for affiliations, we have mostly KND and ECF and all their sub-divisions like the Valkyrie, Team Bravo, and so forth, but we also have a surprising number of Jedi, several Pony Puff Princesses, one Pony Puff Prince, a Sagittarius, some social anxiety, and three people who claim they've either had all their shots or they've gotten over their affiliations."

He felt himself making a face. He hadn't anticipated such levels of stupid.

The scientist pushed his glasses back into place, giving Ben an almost pained look. "It's unfortunate the programmable are out of the question," he said said, pulling out a neatly typed application. "T.O.M. at least used proper punctuation and wrote complete sentences." He tossed the application into the Pit of Hell. "Cow is out of the question, as is her brother, Chicken, not that they stood a chance to begin with, given their spelling skills. For classification purposes, Coco is now an animal." He tossed another paper aside.

"I'll remember that."

"I wanted to run this by you, since it seemed odd, which at this juncture isn't saying much: we have five applicants with the same last name and contact information."

"Who's that?"

"Ashly, Bruce, David, Lenny, and Ogie - is that a name? - Delightful?"

"Burn them!" ordered Ben. "Right now. They're the Delightful Children From Down the Lane. Wouldn't they love to score a date with Number One!"

"I don't know. Would they?"

"Hell yeah. Pit of Hell. Now, Dexter."

"Okay, okay." The Delightful Children joined Cow and T.O.M. and the others on the floor. "See what I mean?"

"Do I even want to know what weird habits they have?"

Dexter snorted. Ben grimaced.

"Should I apologize now?"

"Let's get something to eat, Ben," was the reasonable reply. "Then we'll get to work."


	4. First Cut

"Ben?"

He could hear Dexter's voice, but he was too warm and comfortable to actually wake up and respond.

"Ben?"

Slowly, reluctantly, his mind dragged its way to consciousness.

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson!"

"Wha?" He jerked awake at the annoyed bark, realizing they had fallen asleep on one of the sofas in the great room. Ben blinked. He hadn't remembered the room being so white. A blanket shifted off of him as he sat up and looked around.

There were stacks of paper on the coffee table and on the sofa opposite them and on the chair and a few on the floor. Ben gaped in horror as he realized they were all applications, and he winced under Dexter's steely glare.

"How many applications did you hand out?" asked the redhead with the scary sort of patience in his voice.

"Uh . . . not this many, Dex."

"So I assumed. Apparently someone gained access to a copying machine. There's got to be about two thousand here. Do we have that many people in DexLabs right now?"

Ben stared, horribly conscious of how completely his good intentions had gotten out of hand. He dared to sneak a peek at his boyfriend.

"Uh . . . Crap. What are we going to do?"

"They've been coming in all night. I've already ordered a cut off. Anything the Dexbots collect now will go straight into the trash."

The momentary relief he felt was quickly replaced by panic.

"Wait! Dex – we've got to make sure this one kid applied."

Dexter stared at him in silent disbelief.

"No, listen, this guy yesterday. I gave him the last application I had. He was really cool, he knows Nigel, and I just got a really good vibe."

"All right, Benjamin. What was his name?"

It was with the utmost pain and regret that Ben had to admit, "I . . . didn't ask."

"Why not?"

"I dunno. It didn't seem fair to give him an edge over the others, I guess."

"Ben, we're trying to find the best possible person to go out with Nigel. We're looking for someone with an edge. Impartiality on our behalf is counter-productive!"

"Oh."

The cold stared continued until finally, "How old was he?"

"My age . . . maybe?" he said, trying not to grimace as Dexter's mood darkened.

"Is he in the Kids Next Door?" asked Dexter in a perfectly bland tone.

"He said . . . sorta?"

Dexter groaned.

"The application was the very last one – I kind of mangled it. I think I'd recognize it." Ben realized exactly how badly he was compounding Dexter's life. "Sorry, Dex. I just really, really liked the look of this guy."

Dexter's blue eyes grew huge behind thick glasses as Ben realized what he'd said. Before that Irish temper could explode on him, Ben desperately squeaked,

"For Nigel! For Nigel, I mean! I thought he'd be a good match! He was way too tall and blond to be my type and if his vision was bad, he was definitely wearing contacts!"

A simmering, narrow-eyed look was cast his way. Ben changed the subject as quickly as possible in the hopes his short, bespectacled, ginger-haired boyfriend would refrain from killing him.

"Listen, I bet this kid would read and follow all the instructions. I'll pick out all the ones with blue ink and you can rip through them and we'll get this done. Okay?"

There was a long pause, and finally a twitch shook the young genius.

"Go make coffee," ordered Dexter, snatching up the nearest application. Ben held off on his smile until he reached the kitchen.

Once there, a thought struck him and he quietly activated his comm unit. "Computress?"

"What can I do for you, Ben?"

"Yesterday around lunch time I was outside the cafeteria. Can you pull up the security footage?"

Immediately the computer projected a screen before him. Ben watched himself get chewed out by Abby.

"Why is the picture so dark?"

"The lights in the hall experienced a brief interruption of service."

"Good timing," muttered Ben, immediately suspicious. Things didn't just break in DexLabs. The lack of overhead light made it a difficult to pick out fine details. "There! That guy! The blond." He pointed to the projected image. Computress froze and enhanced the picture; enlarging the figure of the young man Ben had dubbed Blondie to almost life size. "Has he been here before for training or anything?"

"Negative."

"How'd he get here?"

"Unknown."

"Well . . . how'd he leave?"

"Unknown."

"Okay, so he's got a ninja setting. Can you tell me who he is?"

There was a pause, and then, "He does not appear in any of my databases."

"Interesting," said Dexter from where he stood watching from the doorway. Pressing a gloved hand to his mouth, he stared at the image of the handsome teen before shifting his attention to Ben. Intrigue had replaced annoyance as Dexter rose to the challenge this young man presented. The Boy Genius was curious, Ben10 was happy to see, because he knew from personal experience that few things could withstand the force of Dexter's determination.

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

One of the advantages Dexter enjoyed of being a billionaire and owning his own international corporation was the authority to give himself a day off whenever he wished. It was a power he exercised only very rarely, mostly because he loved learning and was very good at it, but he did so that morning. What was more, he managed to lasso his tutor, Kilroy Green, into helping them for a few hours in lieu of teaching Dexter astrophysics.

Mr. Green, a teacher for more than twenty years who was possessed of abnormal paper grading skills, proved to be of incalculable value to the two young men. Once Ben explained the situation and Dexter said the magic words ("Spelling counts"), the Substitute Creature set to work with enthusiasm, whipping out a red pen and unleashing on the applications.

The rest of the Utonium family awoke to two boys and a fire demon hard at work in a production line that spread through the great room of the suite. The Powerpuff Girls were amused at the results of Ben's efforts while their father only cared that there was fresh coffee made. When Dexter followed the Professor into the kitchen to talk, Blossom pressed a finger to her lips and silently slipped her application to Ben. He grinned, checking to be sure Dexter was out of sight before sneaking it into the 'yes' pile.

The girls headed out on patrol and the Professor went to work in his lab. Mr. Green, having made a sizable dent, finally left them for his research and development department. Ben and Dexter soldiered on alone, tanked up on coffee and Oreos. The stream of applications had slowed considerably, giving them hope that the worst was over and they might actually survive the challenge of setting Nigel up with someone. The day wore on. More coffee was made and consumed. Dexter ignored his cell phone. Ben gradually moved from the sofa to the floor to sprawled at Dexter's feet. For the most part they were quiet, but occasionally they came across a particularly amusing bit of weirdness they had to share.

"This guy's fluent in Klingon."

"Really? I have here a padawan who can use the Force, but only when she's alone."

"This one wants to date Number One to get closer to Number Four. She likes accents."

"Neko Kittyspaw thinks Nigel would be adorable wearing cat ears."

"Hey, Dex?" Ben said seriously, still sorting out the applications written in blue ink.

"Mmm?"

"I gotta apologize. I honestly didn't expect to reach this level of stupid with the people applying."

"I understand. It's the background radiation of my life. Why do you think I surround myself with geniuses and hide from those who aren't?"

"All doubt's been erased from my mind, kiddo," he said, realizing Dexter's whole life must have been comparable to the last few days. Small wonder he had such a short temper.

"Your intentions are noble and at least you're trying. I want to see Nigel happy as well," said Dexter with a smile, "just as I want you to succeed."

"I know. Thank you."

Dexter nodded in acknowledgement of Ben's gratitude, pleased that the lengths he was going to were appreciated and understanding the depth of his meaning. He focused on the next application in the stack on his lap and let out a little squeak of disbelief.

"Lizzie Devine?" He recoiled from the paper as if it might bite him. He gaped, reading further, his indignation mounting at each word. "Oh, and _now_ she has no issue with being stood up for missions and battles and her idea of a perfect date is a romantic KND mission followed by an evening dancing. The nerve!"

"Pit of Hell."

He tore the document in half and tossed it behind the sofa before focusing on the next one.

"What? DeeDee?"

"Oh, come on! She's nice!"

"She's an idiot. She listed both her sex and species as 'girl.' And her affiliation is 'Pony Puff Princess.' Nigel needs someone that's intellectually stimulating." DeeDee followed Lizzie into the reject pile. "There's only one person I'd inflict her upon and that's – _Mandark!"_

Ben looked up to see Dexter yelling at the paper. He was surprised the application didn't spontaneously combust under that glare. "He's intellectually stimulating."

"He wears a cape with short shorts, suspenders, _and_ a belt," growled Dexter, defiantly relegating his rival to the Pit of Hell, if only for his fashion sense.

"So he's got better legs than Nigel."

"I hadn't noticed."

"How can you miss them? Don't you guys have some weird sort of friendship . . . thing going on?"

"Perhaps, Mr. Tennyson, but my friendship thing with Nigel is considerably less weird and therefore I will not impose Mr. Susan Astronomonov on him." There was a pause. "He is intelligent, however. He did figure out that we're an item, though I'm fairly certain he won't say anything."

"Same with Nigel."

"I'm not surprised. Ah!" He held up an application approvingly. "Edd."

"Yes."

"Yes," he agreed, adding it to the scant pile on the sideboard. "Who is this . . . Fiskerton?"

"Cryptid."

"Who uses crayon," added Dexter, tossing the paper into the 'no' pile.

Ben handed over another handful of acceptable applications and grabbed the next pile and another cookie. As he flopped back to the carpet he froze, and then almost fell over in shock.

"Dex! I think . . . I think this is it!"

"Our blond mystery ninja?"

"Yeah. I . . ." He crumbled the paper slightly, recreating his original mangling of the application. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is it. And ha! Blue ink!"

Dexter joined him on the floor, bringing his coffee and stealing Ben's cookie as he settled in close against him. Grinning, Ben smoothed the paper as they eagerly leaned forward to read.

**All answers must be written in blue ink. Please write clearly.**

**Name:** Chad Dickson

 **Age:** 18

 **Affiliation:** KND

 **Sex:** Male

 **Contact number or email:** (123)456-7890 CD274*hotmail. com

 **What do you know about Nigel Uno?** Nigel Uno is one of the finest KND operatives in the history of the organization, with unmatched loyalty and devotion. He's headed Sector V for over six years now, and under his leadership they have become the most efficient and recognized of all sector teams. On a more personal note, I've known Nigel for almost eight years; though not always close to him, I understand the burdens of leadership and the pressures he experiences every day.

 **Why do you want to go out with him?** My respect and admiration for Nigel Uno is complete, and despite the ups and downs we've experienced, I would hope he someday feels the same. I firmly believe that being in a long-term, loving relationship with open communication would be the best, healthiest thing for him and very satisfying for us both.

 **Why would he want to go out with you?** I'm not sure that he would.

 **What is your idea of a perfect date?** One with non-stop action, a bit of intrigue, an explosion or two, all followed by pizza and then ice cream.

 **Are you familiar with the KND? Do you have any issue with being stood up because of missions? Battles? Top secret tasks that can't be divulged?** I am familiar with the KND and I fully understand the need to prioritize command duties over personal wants. I would not have any issue with the Supreme Leader putting a meeting, date, or dinner on hold; in fact, I'd be disappointed and take him to task if he ever put personal preferences ahead of his duties to the KND and the ongoing war effort.

 **What likes and dislikes do you have? Please list all weird habits.** I like football, ice cream, seeing a mission through to the end, movies, and good company. My weird habits include acting, playing the violin, trying to get off the Beyond High Society Society's enrollment and mailing lists, and part-time bass player and backup singer for the Scum Bucket Punks.

**What are you? Please name your species.** _Homo sapiens_

**Do you even know who Number One is?** Yes: one time leader of Sector V, presently the Supreme Leader of the KND after contact with the Moon Base was lost this past June.

 **Are you available this Friday night?** Yes, I am.

 **Please list any other relevant facts we should know about you.** Despite my age, I've never stopped being loyal to the KND and everything for which they stand.

"Complete sentences," breathed Dexter in worshipful awe. He seemed to be in some state between shock and ecstatic. "Ben, look! He spelt _sapiens_ correctly! With a lower case 's'!"

"I'll take your word for it." Ben stared, never having seen his boyfriend so transported by proper grammar. Dexter reread the application, his excitement growing.

"Look! Correct use of semi-colons and wording to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition! That's it!" He slapped his hand down onto the paper. "He's the one."

"Oh, now it's okay to like him?"

"I never said it wasn't. I just approve of his command of the written word."

Ben made a mental note of this newly discovered Dexter turn-on. "So, say I wrote you a note using semi-colons. Would it get me anything?"

"Why don't you write one and find out?" Dexter asked with an inviting gleam in his eyes.

"After dinner," promised Ben. "I like his idea of a perfect date."

"Who wouldn't?"

"You don't think he sounds a bit too perfect?"

Dexter fed him an Oreo. "Some people are highly capable, my love. The point of an application is to showcase one's abilities. Accomplishments and skills should not be turned into stumbling blocks or used against a person. Would you ever say that I'm too smart?"

His meaning was reinforced by a wry look and a smirk, and Ben knew better than to fall into that trap. Instead he chewed on the cookie, grabbed Dexter for a long and chocolaty kiss, and read the application a second time.

"He seems to know Nigel pretty well. He talks about his health and food."

"Very candidly, too. Perhaps Chad is aware of the issues Nigel has in relation to eating and body image. He could be worried for Nigel just as you are."

"That would be a big help. I don't think even Edd knows that about the whole food thing."

"So," said Dexter, eying what was left of the applications. Considering how many they'd started out with, there weren't all that many left, but enough to fill another hour or two. "Do you think we have enough acceptable applications to forgo the rest?"

The Boy Genius had just about reached his limit. Now that he'd found the blond mystery ninja, Ben was more than happy to throw in the towel.

"Hell yeah."

Dexter flopped back against the sofa with a sigh. "Thank Einstein."


	5. Second Cut

_Nigel, are you aware that your knuckle-headed pal Tennyson is playing matchmaker? He got it in his head that he's going to find you a date and he's causing the mother of all uproars at DexLabs. At least it's keeping him out of trouble – for the time being. Numbah Five doesn't think_ that _state of affairs will last into Saturday morning._

He scrolled sown to the next email.

_Oi, Soopreme Leader! What's this I here u and you're bird broke up? Congratulations, mate! We never liked her any way and even I new u could do better. Time two upgrade!_

He made a face. Wally's bluntness would have been refreshing if he had addressed any other topic under the sun besides his breakup with Lizzie. He was still smarting from that. At least Number Four had learned to use spell check, though his grammar left a lot to be desired.

_Nigel, as your best friend I have to warn you that Ben is serious about getting you a date this Friday. Really serious. Like, by Tuesday morning, applications were being circulated and the girls here (and a few guys and some of the other things running around here – I think Edd applied) were going crazy to get them. I had Blossom get me one and I've sent a copy as an attachment. Do you want me to talk to Ben? There's still time to stop him. He did say something about Dexter helping him, too, which may or may not be a good thing, given that Dexter says everything with lasers._

He opened the attachment and leaned on his hand to read the questions, trying to answer them for himself and keeping his hand poised on the mouse in case anyone came in and saw what he was looking at. It wouldn't do for his subordinates to think he was applying for a date with himself. What was his idea of a perfect date? It didn't seem as important of what he did versus whom he did it with. He was understandably curious and intrigued to find out who _Ben_ would think was the right person for him. Ben, who somehow had ended up with the least likely of partners and was all the happier for it.

He reread Hoagie's message, sensing the concern in his friend's words and considering the offer. Did he want Ben to stop? What was the worst that could happen? The date could be a failure. On the other hand, it could be the start of something wonderful. He'd be a fool to stop now. It was comforting to know that Dexter was involved. The scientist was sensible in the extreme and would keep Ben on an even keel. Besides, Ben knew better than Hoagie the impact being in a relationship could have on him, and Nigel seriously doubted Ben would match him up with someone shallow or unsuitable. Even if he did, Dexter would be sure to nix it.

What did he want? He wasn't sure. Hoagie and Abby were clearly anxious over Ben's good intentions, but they were a bit territorial when it came to their leader. Perhaps it was a mistake, but he had never told them the role they'd played in the formation of his eating disorder. It would devastate his team and they had quite enough on their plates fighting the Fusion invasion. Bad enough he'd had his swimming trunks stolen by robotic crabs when his team had dumped him at the beach, but to have his shame photographed by the Delightful Children Down the Lane and then to be blackmailed by them had been worse. Most painful of all though was for his friends to laugh at him. He knew they had reacted to what to them was a ridiculous situation and he supposed in a way it really was, but then, they hadn't been publicly humiliated. He'd laughed along with them instead of breaking down, trying to make the best of the situation and hoping they'd forget it quickly, but the sting had lingered on until it became part of him. He grew to hate every mouthful of food he consumed for fear of their laughter and that of the Delightful Children. Ben, who'd gained his trust so quickly despite being a teen, was the only one he'd ever spoken to about that episode. Tennyson hadn't laughed, but he did tell Nigel about being bullied in grade school and how he would have loved to be in the KND at that age to get back at the kids that had made going to school a trial. Having a confidant had eased more anxiety than he had ever managed on his own.

Nigel smiled to know he had such good friends even though the KND and Ben10 approached him from completely different angles. Who was right in this case?

"Guess I'll have to wait and see," he said softly to himself, opening the next email.

_Number One, did you see the new episode of Rainbow Monkeys Adventure? It was sooooooooooooo beautiful! They went to a tropical island no one's ever been to and they found more Rainbow Monkeys there that could FLY! They had sparkling rainbow wings! But the Rainbow Monkeys had to fly because there were these big, mean snakes that lived on the ground and were always trying to capture the Rainbow Monkeys and the flying Rainbow Monkeys were always sad because they wanted to pick the flowers that grew on the ground but the mean snakes wouldn't let them and the regular Rainbow Monkeys came and helped all of them to get along and it turned out the snakes really wanted the fruit in the trees and the flying Rainbow Monkeys wanted the flowers, so they traded and they were all happy. There was a new song at the end that they all sang and I cried and do you think maybe they'll come out with Flying Rainbow Monkey stuffed toys now?_

Nigel chuckled, imagining Kuki's squeaky voice as he read her email. She always made him smile, and that was why he always saved her letters for last.

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

"All things considered, this was a successful campaign," declared Dexter, straightening the slim stack of applications that had survived the first, ruthless cut before starting to page through them. Dexbots were cleaning up the remaining papers while Buttercup read a few of the pages, chuckling at the answers. "When Dad was trying to find me a engineering tutor he interviewed - how many people, Dad?"

"Too darned many," grumbled Utonium as he passed them, heading towards the bathroom. Half his face and his whole right side was orange and his hair was blown severely to the left as if things had not gone quite according to plan in his laboratory today. Dexter watched him walk by with professional interest. Blossom took advantage of her brother's distraction to give Ben a look of alarm. She didn't want Dexter to see her application. Her sisters simply ignored the Professor's disheveled state; labs and explosions were nothing new for them.

"Any luck, boys?" the Professor asked.

"Quite a bit, actually." Dexter displayed the fruits of their labors. "Enough to keep Benjamin occupied interviewing."

"Isn't this all a bit much for a date?" wondered Buttercup, flopping down onto the nearest sofa to read some more.

Dexter gave her a scandalized look. "We don't want a second Lizzie."

"So what do you want?" asked Bubbles.

Ben indicated his boyfriend, leaning close to pluck the applications from his hand on the pretext of checking them himself. "Dex wants someone who can spell. I want someone who will look after Nigel . . . and can spell," he added when Dexter very lovingly elbowed him in the ribs.

"You're a good friend for doing this, Ben," said the blonde, giving him her sweetest smile.

"I'm thinking I might be a bit insane, too."

"Trust me, that helps," came the Professor's voice from the bathroom where he was washing up. "I'm not cooking. Let's send out for pizza."

All the children cheered and immediately started getting in their orders.

"Can we get pepperoni?"

"I want extra cheese!"

"Onions!"

"Bacon!"

"Green peppers!"

At Ben's suggestion the entire Utonium clan froze and then shouted a final, resounding, "NO!"

"Fine," he grumbled, not really put out since he'd expected exactly reaction he'd gotten. He wasn't going to back down completely, however. "Extra garlic."

Dexter groaned.

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

"So what does Nigel think of this?"

He was sitting at the dining room table with Professor Utonium while in the great room Dexter and the girls held a rock-paper-scissors death match to decide who got to pick out the movie they'd watch once the pizza arrived. Ben had been surprised when the Professor had ordered more than a dozen pizzas, but some of them were for the security staff on duty and the Powerpuff Girls were possessed of tremendous appetites and the Professor himself had a thing for cold garden vegetable pizza for breakfast.

"Uh . . . he didn't say no."

The Professor smiled knowingly, picking up the pile of applications that Ben was doing his best to keep away from Dexter. "He trusts you."

"Yeah."

"That's quite an accomplishment, considering how the Kids Next Door feel about anyone a day over thirteen years old."

"We're both moms. We bonded."

"Moms?"

Ben shrugged. "He had a few thousand chicks - what's the word when they think you're their mom and follow you around?"

"Imprinting," provided Utonium, thoroughly amused not just at how seriously Ben was taking this matchmaking business, but at the image of Number One being swamped in peeping fluffiness.

"A few thousand chicks imprinted on him during one of their missions and he got really fond of them by the time the mission was done."

"And you?"

Ben made a wry face at the memory. "Big Chill decided to reproduce back when I was fifteen."

The Professor gave him the standard odd look most people gave him when they found out he had a small swarm of baby alien moths to call his own.

"How many kids have you got?"

"About twelve or fifteen. They were cute."

"Where are they now?"

"They took off into deep space. It's what Necrofriggians do for about thirty years. I can't help but worry about them, though. They're just babies."

The Professor nodded, rolling with the strangeness and sympathetic with a parent's concern. "I know what it's like to be mom _and_ dad since I've been both to the girls since day one."

"Well, Nigel was the first guy I met that had a clue of what it was like to be a mom. I don't even remember how it came up, but from that point on we found a lot in common."

Utonium was paging through the applications and smiled when he came across Blossom's. He tipped the page towards Ben and softly asked, "Does Dexter know?"

"Nope."

He nodded, willing to keep his silence. "Any favorites so far?"

"This guy impressed us both," said Ben, grateful for additional input. He fished out Chad's application from the pile and watched the Professor's expression as he read. "I like the way he carried himself when he asked for an application. Dexter likes the fact that he used semi-colons."

"Sounds like my kid. Chad. Hmm. He left his definition of a perfect date open to some pretty broad interpretation."

Ben felt his jaw drop and he felt his face grow hot as he blushed. "I . . . oh, god, I hadn't thought of it that way."

Utonium chuckled, but he looked at Ben with approval. "So I see. So he's not sure Nigel would want to go out with him. Something must have happened between them, but it's telling that he wants to try. At least he's honest."

"That's what I thought."

"Do you know anything about him?"

"No, and neither does Computress."

"Really?" wondered the scientist as shouts and whines erupted when Buttercup won the right to pick the movie. "Interesting."

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

A few hours later found Ben back at the dining room table with Dexter and some cold pizza to keep him company. The Boy Genius had a large sketch pad before him and he was busy designing some new armor and weapons, which was pretty typical behavior for him after seeing an action movie. Buttercup, in the mood for something classic, had picked the first _Predator_ movie for them to watch (though for Bubbles' sake they had to skip the gory parts). He glanced at the pad and smiled to see a sketch of a helmet. Dexter's doodles often went straight into production, and he was the only kid Ben had ever heard tell of whose refrigerator art could be used as blueprints.

Confident that Dexter's _Predator_ -inspired designs would keep him busy for a while, Ben spread out the applications to get a good look at them. For a moment he felt a little silly for going through with this whole plan and he had a pang of . . . panic was perhaps too strong a word. Concern, then. What if this was a total disaster? Nigel being ticked at him he could handle and Ben didn't really care much if he crashed and burned, but he wasn't sure he could handle Nigel's disgust or disappointment if it came to that. And he wasn't sure what to do next.

"What's wrong?" asked Dexter, not looking up from the pad.

"This was a really stupid idea, wasn't it?"

"We'll find that out, won't we?" He selected a fresh pencil from dozen or so he had lined up on the table before him. "I'd say a lot has been learned, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah – what not to do next time."

The redhead smiled. "Then we have not wasted our time. Are you stuck?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Six sighs in twenty minutes," said the genius, resuming his sketching.

"Any suggestions?"

"You know him as well as anyone, perhaps better. Ask yourself what Nigel needs. Eliminate the people that can't or won't give him that."

"What if I'm not sure?"

"Ask them, or, if you prefer, just focus on the people most familiar to you since you can judge their characters best."

That was a good idea. Ben spent a few minutes sorting the paperwork into two piles. Dexter looked up questioningly.

"Where did you put Chad?"

"In with the people I know," was his grudging confession.

Dexter smiled. "I think your mind is made up, Benjamin."

"I liked the guy. I just wish we knew more about him."

"Ask Number Two. Or I could have Computress hack into the KND computer system again and see if there's any information on him there."

"Again?"

"Mmm," said Dexter without the least hint of shame or remorse.

"I don't think Sector V is too keen on this whole plan."

"And they're doing what to safeguard Nigel's health and well being?"

That was a good question. Dropping back into his chair, Ben weighed his options, listening to the soft scratching of the pencil as Dexter shaded in some details. It was pleasant sound and comforting in its way. Finally he looked at the infinitely resourceful young man beside him.

"How long do you think it'll take Computress?"


	6. Hack and Slash

When Ben wandered out of his bedroom early the next morning it was still dark outside and in. Dragging a blanket with him, he went in search of his boyfriend. Dexter's bedroom was empty and the bed had been made with inhuman precision. Heading downstairs, he could hear someone typing away at a keyboard at warp speed. It could only be Dexter. He was the fastest typist Ben knew.

Sure enough, Baby Einstein was fully dressed and already at work at the Professor's computer with a hologram of Computress' robotic body standing beside the desk. She was adequately bright to serve as a nightlight since Dexter suffered from a fear of the dark. He glanced up as Ben approached, sliding forward in his seat to make room. Taking him up on the invitation, Ben climbed onto the chair to straddle him from behind, enveloping Dexter in his arms and the blanket and settling down to snooze against the younger teen's neck.

"Wa' you doin'?" mumbled Ben as he leaned in to snuggle close against the redhead.

"Hacking into the KND computer system," Dexter replied casually.

Ben blinked, raising his head. "You can really do that?" He squinted at the screen, but the codes and commands Dexter and Computress were utilizing while impressive, were meaningless to him.

"Of course. What do I look like, an amateur?"

He looked like a complete nerd, but Ben decided saying as much out loud would get him booted off the chair. Besides, he was a darned cute nerd.

"It's actually simpler this time," continued Dexter, typing and clicking away, somehow able to talk and bust into other people's computer networks simultaneously. "Last time we had to hack into their moon base, so we had them thinking it was the Pentagon trying to access their files."

"Who are you this time?"

"The Kremlin," Computress replied.

Ben chuckled and settled down again, closing his eyes as he muttered, "Skunk."

"We're just looking," Dexter promised virtuously. "We won't touch. Too much," he added in a mutter. A moment later he made a little sound of 'Ah!' and the screen changed to the typically bright KND file.

"Computress, access all files that fall under the acronym . . . C.H.O.P.S.T.I.C.K."

"What's that stand for?" wondered Ben against his neck.

"Nothing I know of, but it will throw them off. If we just accessed all the 'c' files they might get suspicious. This way they'll be kept busy and they may even think Sector C is running a drill."

"But his last name is Dickson."

"You obviously don't know how the Kids Next Door filing system works, Mr. Tennyson."

"Guess not."

"Have we been detected yet, Computress?"

"Not yet," answered the computer. She pulled up a personnel file. "Chad Dickson."

"Save file, and see what you can do to clean and upgrade their computer system while you're in there." He glanced back as Ben squeezed him in a hug. "What? You think I'm just going to nose around and not give them anything in return? We are allies."

"What if they return the favor?"

"They can try. If they got in, I'd thank them for finding any flaws in my security. Mandark and I have fought some outright wars against each other for that very reason. We average about three major battles a year."

"Who's winning?"

"Who do you think?" was the thoroughly smug reply. He took a few moments to sip his coffee and revel in his own genius. "Computress? Progress?"

"Upgrades complete. I've also removed 612 various viruses and bugs from their system, improved their security, improved their overall speed by 31% and have given them copies of the newest _Sumo Slammers_ and _Spore_ video games." Computress looked to her creator. "We've been detected."

"Took them long enough."

"Which new _Sumo Slammers_ game?" asked Ben suspiciously, suddenly alert.

_"God Quest II: the Bridge to Heaven."_

"That's not due out until next month!" he squeaked, all dignity falling to the wayside at the notion of the KND getting an edge on him.

"The beauty of having a super computer," murmured Dexter.

"I want a super computer."

Dexter twisted slightly to kiss him on the cheek. "Use mine, my love."

"Won't they get wigged out that this game suddenly appeared on their computers?"

"Would you question it?"

He didn't answer, which was answer enough.

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

Fortified with fresh coffee and cold pizza, the two young men moved to a sofa and settled down to get better acquainted with Mr. Chad Dickson. Dexter called on Computress to project the file before them, and to his obvious surprise, she said,

"There are a number of sub-files. All are heavily encrypted."

"Is that normal practice?" asked Dexter sharply, frowning.

"Highly unusual, especially for the Kids Next Door. There wasn't anything comparable in all the files I scanned."

"Get to work on breaking those encryptions and pull up all available information on Mr. Dickson."

"With the audio?" asked Computress, filling the air around them with projections from the file.

"Yes," ordered Dexter, ready to get to solve the mystery this young man presented.

"Breaking these encryptions will take some time, Dexter," advised the computer. "I estimate several hours at least. Shall I alert you when I'm through?"

"Yes, please," he said, and got to work on the pizza.

"Chad Dickson," said a metallic voice as video images and pictures of a scrappy-looking boy with a flop of blond hair played before them. "Kids Next Door operative Number 247. One of the organization's most admired and highly decorated operatives, former Supreme Leader. Best remembered for his refusal to be decommissioned on his thirteenth birthday and his attempt to have all members of Sector V decommissioned instead. After being branded a traitor, former Number 247 went rogue and became a member of the Teen Ninjas, sworn enemies of the Kids Next Door."

"Hold!" ordered Dexter, and the images froze. "Now do you see why I was so taken with his ability to write complete sentences?" asked Dexter. "This is normal communication for them."

"So that's what he meant by 'sorta' when I asked if he was in the KND."

"He was never decommissioned. That explains why a teenager would remember his old friends and his time spent in the KND. The members of Sector V are the only teens presently serving, yes?"

"That I've heard of, yeah, now that the moon base is lost. Nigel's, what, seventeen now?"

"Sixteen. He's a little older than I am."

"Just my luck. Blondie here is a traitorous slime. I'm glad you hacked their computer otherwise I might have set Nigel up with a jerk!"

"Don't forget the encrypted files. There's more to this situation than this propaganda film we're seeing. Besides, you're a good judge of character and even that brief encounter left you with a highly favorable impression."

"I've been wrong before."

"Perhaps, but the question is – are you wrong this time? Computress, continue."

Keeping in mind Dexter's point of view, Ben watched the video with a grain of salt, then watched it again. He had to admit that whoever had made this entry was pretty biased. Most of Chad's accomplishments – and they were as numerous as they were impressive – were brushed aside in light of his conduct at the end of his service, and his loyalty was questioned in hindsight at every stage. That his parents had turned out to be villains was cited often, though the fact that Chad had fought and defeated them at every turn was conveniently overlooked.

"A very shallow biography," criticized Dexter, gnawing on a pizza bone. "Heavy-handed in the accusations yet they give no reason or motivation for his conduct toward the end of his service."

"You're right," he agreed, handing over the bits of crust he had left to save Dexter the effort of stealing them. "Something's not adding up."

"Mmm. Perhaps you should take some time and get a second impression of Mr. Dickson."

"Yeah," he said, still gazing at the holograms of young Chad in action. "Think I'll do just that."

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

Ben was the first to admit he didn't have a clue as to what he was doing. Winging it was the best he could come up with, so perhaps if he acted like he knew what he was doing, he might fool even himself and get something accomplished.

_"Remember," Dexter had said, standing up on his toes to kiss Ben good-bye, "Nigel trusts you to make this choice for him, so trust yourself. If you're satisfied, then you don't owe anyone an explanation. Except me. And perhaps Nigel."_

_"You?"_

_"You have to live with me. Besides, I helped," he reminded, stealing another kiss._

When Dexter headed off to meet Mr. Green (he was schooled year round, so despite the fact that it was summer he still had classes), Ben once again spread the applications out before him and considered them carefully. He had five people on the list: Chad, Blossom, Edd, Juniper Lee, and Frankie.

Juniper Lee was the youngest, just a bit shy of fourteen. Ben hesitated to team Nigel up with someone so young, just as he wanted to avoid someone so much older as Frankie. Both girls were great, but there were times when even the nearly three-year gap between him and Dexter caused them problems, and Nigel fell almost exactly between these two ladies age-wise. Problems were the very things he was trying to avoid, and so he eliminated the oldest and youngest from the list.

Blossom, pretty, smart, and capable, was also very used to being in control and he strongly suspected that trait would overshadow her charms in a relationship. Would she be able to resist the impulse to interfere with a KND mission if Nigel was involved? Could she stay out of the action if things went awry? Most important of all, would she be able to leave the super hero at the door when she was with Nigel? He seriously doubted it, and he would hate to see anyone he liked so well become Lizzie all over again. Nice as the Powerpuff girls were and much as he liked them all, their super powers could be overbearing. There was also the whole Dexter's sister thing to consider. Anyone the girls dated would eventually find out about Ben and Dexter, and right now Nigel could safely exercise plausible deniability if that ever became an issue.

Edd. He was such a good guy. Bright, caring, and conscientious to a fault. He was also neurotic and highly organized, a sort of watered-down version of Dexter minus the accent. Of all the people that had made it thus far, he was the least physical but the deepest thinker. Ben had an image of Double D pushing himself to extremes to keep up with Nigel and convincing himself he was having fun at some crazy sport when in fact he was better suited to quiet contemplation. Not that Nigel couldn't laze around and contemplate things with the best of them, but Nigel was restless in the extreme and couldn't be still for long. That didn't go to say that Edd and Number One couldn't get along very well, but Ben had the nagging sense that Edd was much better for Nigel as a friend rather than a boyfriend.

And that left -

"Ben?"

He jumped and Blossom smiled.

"Sorry," she said, seeing she had startled him. She held up the carafe. "More coffee?"

"Sure," he said, sitting back and letting her refill his mug. Blossom poured some for herself and joined him at the table. She was still in her pajamas, though true to form she was the first of the triplets to rise.

"Are you still going through the applications?" she wondered.

"I've narrowed it down to the last few. You're one of them."

Another smile was her answer. "It can't be an easy choice."

"It's not, really. I didn't think it would be all this hard, but . . . making a decision for someone else is big stuff."

"Does Dexter know I applied?"

"Nope. Your dad does."

Cradling the coffee mug in both hands, she sat back. "Dexter's so protective of us. It's very cute and almost funny."

"He doesn't care that you're all ultra-super heroes. He just sees you as his younger sisters."

"I know. That's why we like it. That's why he likes you, too. You don't care that he's smarter and richer than everyone. You like _him_."

"And that's what makes this so hard. Finding the person that's as good for Nigel as for Number One as for the Supreme Leader of the KND."

He was glad she didn't seem upset, but sat back and contemplated this statement, gnawing on her lip as she applied it to herself. "You need somebody that knows all three people. I like Nigel, but I know him best as Number One, as the leader of Sector V, and I think . . . I think _that's_ the person I'd expect on a date."

"Right. And Double D knows Nigel waaaay better than Number One."

"Edd made the list?" she asked, delighted. "Who else?"

"Well, I took out Juniper Lee and Frankie. Too young, too old."

She nodded her agreement.

"And that leaves this other guy, Chad Dickson."

"Who's he? I've never heard the name."

He slid Chad's application free of the pile and slid it over to her. "Your brother and I are trying to find out. He's . . . a bit of a mystery."

By the arch of her eyebrow and curious expression as she read it was very evident that Blossom was the daughter of Patrick Utonium. It was also evident that she was impressed.

"Wow," she finally said. "I thought my answers were good. He's got me beat. If you don't pick him, can I get his phone number?"

She was only half joking.

"Dex and I are trying to find out more about him. He was in the KND, but refused to be decommissioned when he was thirteen and joined the Teen Ninjas. He knew Nigel back in the day, but I don't know if Nigel would be happy to see him or want to strangle him before coming after me. As far as the Kids Next Door are concerned, he's public enemy number 274."

"They also use gumballs as weapons and eat paste," Blossom replied with superior derision that she could only have learned from her brother, who had no use for 2x4 Technology. She looked up at Ben with knowing pink eyes. "They may think he's all that's bad, but I'm not reading that. The way I read this, Chad genuinely cares for Nigel."

"You sure it's the teenage girl talking and not the Bexter fangirl?"

She giggled. "Maybe a little." For a moment she regarded him. Once upon a time she'd had a tremendous crush on Ben. He was glad that she was past that and that they could be friends and he could tease her a bit. Growing serious, Blossom said, "I think Chad gets Nigel. And Number One. And the Supreme Leader. Much as I hate to say it, I think Chad's your best choice. But you knew that already."

She was right and she knew it and he didn't know what to say. Standing, the leader of the Powerpuff Girls sipped her coffee and let out a sigh. "Maybe I'll ask Double D out. Yeah, I think I will. I can take him flying. He's a musician, isn't he?"

"You can't ask him out yet! Wait until I'm done," he begged. "Please!"

"Nope," Blossom said, heading for the kitchen. "I think I'll call him right now."

"But I might need him! Or you! Blossom! You can't!"

"Yes, I can."

"But . . ."

She couldn't keep a straight face any longer. Blossom pointed, the perfect picture of a sassy little sister. "Gotcha!"


	7. Day of the D's

Dexter was a genius.

That was a given, of course, but at the moment Ben felt he had never quite given that fact the full appreciation it deserved. Science and inventions and massive corporations aside, the kid knew how to plan ahead. He thought of things that Ben never would have in a month of Sundays, and it was a lucky thing because Dexter's forethought was saving Ben's tail at every junction today. It wasn't just the blue ink thing on the application (which Ben had reinstated the moment the Kanker sisters had come sniffing for a date), it was the fine print. The disclaimer. The blesséd, blesséd disclaimer.

_By signing this form, the applicant agrees to abide by the screening process set forth by Cmdr. Tennyson and frees him, DexLabs, all its subsidiaries and employees, and the people involved in the final decision-making process from any legal action associated with applying for a date with Nigel Uno. Filling out this form does not guarantee a date with Nigel Uno, nor are we responsible for broken hearts, shattered dreams, or harebrained notions of grandeur associated with dating the Supreme Leader of the KND._

He couldn't walk ten feet without being held up. Some people stopped Ben to hand him their applications, saying they felt their chances would be better by giving it to him personally (as if he'd remember them and their crazy clothes amidst a sea of teenagers in crazy clothes). Ben thanked them and smiled and was vague in his answers even as he asked them if they'd read the whole form. Almost everyone said yes, though he believed maybe one in twenty people. Every time he accumulated a few applications, he'd find a Dexbot and ask it to take the forms for their initial processing. At this point in the dating game, processing was synonymous with shredding, but it was highly satisfying to all concerned – for Ben to get rid another application and for the teens applying to see their literary efforts whisked away by the efficient little robots.

Other people wanted to know where they stood, as if Ben had memorized a list of two thousand-plus names and could rattle off individual rankings. He got a lot of unsolicited opinions about Nigel, the general consensus being he was hot and had a sexy accent and had to have eyes so gorgeous that he had to keep them hidden behind those sunglasses. He was also on the receiving end of a lot of explanations as to why the person speaking to him would be _the_ perfect date. Usually these statements were followed by inquiries about what they should wear, Nigel's views about makeup, and who was expected to pay for the date.

And then there were the people who wanted to know if Nigel wasn't available, was Ben interested in going out Friday? How about a double date? It was amazing how many friends thought he was cute and were available. Ben politely turned down all offers, rightly saying he was busy. He fully intended to be naked in the shower with Dexter this Friday night. If he was lucky, he wouldn't need to get dressed until Sunday.

A few people mentioned the application fee, which was a source of confusion. Apparently a number of people had actually paid for copies of the application or paid to have their form given a priority tag. He remembered Mr. Green mentioning how many of the applications had been highlighted in yellow and he'd seen one or two of them himself, but none so marked had made it to the final round.

Regardless of who asked or what their line of questioning, Ben managed to mention the disclaimer to almost everyone. That and blue ink were his last lines of defense.

It took him the better part of an hour to get from the Utonium suite to the cafeteria, a trip that usually took no more than fifteen minutes. Between late applications and relationship questions, he had so much trouble getting through the lines for food that he knew his food would be stone cold, if he ever managed to make it to a seat, of course.

"You're quite popular today," said a quiet voice.

"Edd!" exclaimed Ben, dodging a handful of Valkyries that were trying to corner him. "I can't escape them," he confided. "Listen, want to sit down somewhere quiet?"

Edd cast his usual uneasy look at the crush of ECF and KND troops filling the corporate cafeteria. "Always."

"C'mon."

He waved off more people that wanted to know their chances of dating the ever hot, sexily accented Supreme Leader and lead Double D toward the entrance of the cafeteria where, off a short and quiet hall, was the conference room Dexter had told him he could use. To Ben's relief his badge opened the door. He and Edd slipped into the room just in time to avoid a gaggle of perfect dates for Number One that had followed them in the hopes of getting an edge on the competition.

The room wasn't very large, but it was comfortable and well lit and overlooked a grass garden that was being visited by a great many birds. Edd looked around, smiling in appreciation of the sudden calm and quiet. Ben plunked his tray down and dropped into a chair with a sigh.

"If I ever do anything like this again, stop me."

Edd smiled as he carefully removed the plates from his tray and arranged them on the table so he could see the birds while he ate. Ben watched in amusement, thinking of Dexter. Edd's was definitely a much milder case of OCD.

"You're helping Nigel," Double D replied. "Why would I stop that?"

"Alright, well, next time save me from my own methods of helping him. If turning into an alien won't solve the problem, someone else can handle it."

"Have you tried?"

"What, turning into an alien to find Nigel a replacement for Lizzie? He axed my Goop idea the other day, so no, I haven't. He doesn't want to date an alien. He has standards." In a fit of playful sarcasm, he made quotes in the air as he pronounced that last word.

Smiling, Edd opened a napkin and set it on his lap. "So where are you now?"

Bun dug into his burger and fries. "Well, Dexter, Mr. Green and I went through piles and piles of applications. Someone got access to a copying machine and started churning them out so that we were up to our eyebrows. I swear every last person fighting Planet Fusion except for me and Sergeant Morton applied."

"Ah." The teen squirmed a bit in his seat. "I . . . I think Eddy might have had something to do with that, Ben. He suddenly has a lot of money in his 'chump change' jar."

It fit – all the extra applications, the highlighted pages. All that extra work because the ECF's quartermaster wanted to make a buck. Ben didn't have the time or interest in getting angry, but he did say, "Tell Skipper from me that if he doesn't cut it out immediately and make a _very_ substantial donation to Mrs. Warthog for the pizza party fund by tomorrow, Brainstorm is going to take a good hard look at his accounting books, and he'll tell Dexter _and_ Mandy what he finds."

The threat of an audit was a good one, and Edd smiled in agreement and support. "I'll let him know. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to support such a good cause."

"Yeah, right," was his cynical response. Eddy was about as fond of giving to charity as Dexter was of going camping. "Anyway, I can't tell you how many applications we sorted through. Some of them were pretty funny, sometimes without meaning to be. Did you know Lizzie applied?"

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Double D said. "Even if he wasn't the Supreme Leader of the KND, Nigel would definitely be considered a good catch. He's intelligent and very dedicated. I suspect Lizzie quickly came to realize what she'd lost."

"Yeah, especially when the whole army jumped on the bandwagon. Too bad for her. She had her chance and blew it. I told Nigel they'd be lined up to date him."

"Did you apply?"

Ben smiled at the suggestion. "No."

Edd studied him for a few long moments before saying, "You wouldn't have to. You could have just asked him out." He let out a little sigh as he finished.

Few people could have made such a statement without sounding jealous or getting teased, but like Dexter, Edd could state facts simply and without embarrassment. "I'm not exactly available and I don't know if I'd be right for him."

"Have you found someone who is?"

"I think maybe yes. I'm waiting to hear back from Computress on him, but he seems a really cool guy. Really accomplished and capable. He knew Nigel back in the day."

"That's good. It's important that Nigel is happy. Not because of the war, but because he's our friend."

He could sense what Double D wasn't asking, what he was afraid to find out but very much wanted to know.

"For the record, you, Blossom and this other guy made the final cut."

Edd smiled, pleased and just a hint wistful as he said, "Well, it's nice to know I'm almost needed."

That stung a bit, and not because Edd hadn't been picked, but because he lacked the self-assurance to claim the loss was Nigel's. Ben gave him a playful shove and a disbelieving look. "Almost?" he scoffed. Edd rolled with it and gave a little laugh, his spirits recovered a bit by this reaffirmation of friendship.

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

Ben was seriously considering turning into Big Chill and phasing through the window to escape the people massing outside the door, but that would leave Double D to deal with a herd of would-be dates and Ben couldn't throw anyone so sensitive into the dating scene shark tank. They took a long time to eat in the hopes that the applicants would go away, but it was futile. Nigel Uno was too hot a commodity for any of them to back down.

He collected another thirty-odd applications (most written in black ink, he noted, and several with wavering yellow highlighter across the questions) as he ran the gauntlet. Edd volunteered to return his tray and Ben gratefully handed it over rather than fight his way through the cafeteria.

"Tell Eddy I'll be in touch with Mrs. Warthog," reminded Ben, waving the handful of applications.

Double D grinned. "I'm sure he'll tell you himself how happy he is to do it."

He dumped the forms on the first Dexbot he saw and decided the only place he'd be safe from would-be Supreme Leader significant others would be either Mandy's office or down in Dexter's laboratory. The choice was clear, and one long elevator ride later he was stepping into the cool vastness of the Boy Genius' underground lair. He wandered about until he spotted Dexter in full-bore mad scientist mode mucking around with his isotopes in the radiation chamber. Knowing better than to disturb him, Ben watched him through thick layers of shielded glass and took a few moments to appreciate the form-fitting safety gear Dexter was wearing. He knew the gear was heavy because Dexter was moving very slowly as he scienced.

"Hello, Ben."

"Hi, Computress," he said as the computer projected a hologram of her robotic form beside him. Her robotic body was temporarily offline at Dexter's orders since that form had developed an immense crush on Professor Utonium. Dexter hadn't figured out how or why only that aspect of her would do such a thing, but she tended to follow Utonium everywhere and dote on him like a lovesick teenager. Until Dexter corrected the problem, Computress had to be content with holograms. "How's it going with those files you hacked this morning?"

"I'm still working on them. I should have the smallest file ready for viewing this evening."

"Cool. What's Dex up to?"

"He's just doing a routine check of the shielding around the storage unit. He should be finished soon."

He nodded, making up his mind as he dug his phone out of his pocket. He'd entered Chad's number into it before he left the suite this morning, and he wrote a quick text.

_Meet at DexLabs Thurs. B10_

There. It was at once vague and precise. _Let's see how good you are, Mr. Teen Ninja_ , Ben thought. He hit send before he could change his mind just as the airlocks to the radiation chamber started to open. It was a good ten minutes before Dexter emerged, and he smiled broadly as he pulled off his headgear.

"Ben! You're just in time!"

"What for?" he challenged.

Without breaking eye contact, Dexter unfastened the radiation suit from throat to crotch in a single motion and then in a very suggestive voice, said the word Ben was longing to hear:

"Decontamination."


	8. Hanging Chad

Ben deliberately kept on the move the following morning, curious to see if the former Number 274 was all he was cracked up to be. Fortified with the largest cup of coffee available from the cafeteria, Ben started his day by visiting Mandy's secretaries. Nazz, Muriel, Mrs. Warthog, and Assistant Scoutmaster Slinkman all greeted him enthusiastically, and Mrs. Warthog informed him that Eddy, in a wildly uncharacteristic move, had indeed donated a lump sum of cash (mostly in quarters) to the pizza party fund.

"I don't get it," grunted Mrs. Warthog.

"Self-preservation," Ben replied humorlessly.

"We have enough for a party tomorrow night," she said. "I'll get the word out."

Ben had been to only one of the pizza parties that were held whenever there was enough money in the kitty. It had been a loud and noisy affair that allowed the child soldiers to kick back and be kids and work off some tension. That might be a decent first date for Nigel and . . .

He sighed. Dexter was right. His mind was made up. It had been all along. Nigel and Chad. He was just going through the motions of interviews right now.

Applications were still trickling in, and he passed them off to whichever Dexbot was closest, to be converted into confetti. Putting a stopper on Eddy's money-making scheme seemed to have worked.

It was a perfect summer day, and Ben was itching to get outside. Heaven knew Dexter would never willingly step foot outside unless the building was burning down, so Ben was on his own. Deciding a visit to the hangars was in order, Ben set out on the four-mile foot path. It roughly paralleled the road and wound through patches of trees and a few gardens and lawns on its way to the hangars. The DexLabs grounds were as nice as the building even if Dexter never went there himself.

There were a few soldiers out and about, most of them training. Ben paused by a large field to sip his coffee and watch a small troop of trainees. At the onset of the war with Planet Fusion, Dexter had allowed the Kids Next Door to set up an obstacle course on his property. True to form it utilized some (in Ben's opinion) bizarre items to get results - swing sets, clothes lines, a whole gauntlet of swinging doors, a school bus, and a dozen kiddie pools among other things. This was where everyone found out if their individually designed 'uniforms' would actually protect them while allowing them to move and fight. This group of newbies happened to be a band of Ronin, meaning they were die-hard fans of Samurai Jack. Conical straw hats, kimonos, and wooden sandals were all the rage. Ben thought they all looked as if they were running around in bath robes, but whatever worked for them.

There was also a shooting range half a mile further down the path, which Dexter had expanded considerably at the KND's request. A few dozen trainees were practicing with their Null-Void guns under the strict eye of DexLabs Security Sgt. Lee and the stricter eye of KND Operative 1941. Considerably more experienced than the Ronin he had just passed, these troops had refined their dress code to something more practical than kimonos. Most were in various sorts of armor and helmets and visors, because Null-Voids were bright even in daylight and looking at the beams too long could give anyone a headache. In full-bore vacation mode, Ben happily watched everyone else working while he enjoyed more coffee. Standing between Lee and 1941, he kept his voice flat as he announced,

"Pizza party tomorrow night."

Lee groaned. 1941 grinned. Ben caffeinated and continued his morning stroll.

Slinging his green jacket over his shoulder as the sun grew warmer on his back, he made way when 1941 and his troop came jogging by, singing out a cadence as they headed toward the hangars. Their song was fading in the distance when a familiar (and expected) voice said from a little ways behind him,

"Commander Tennyson?"

He turned. Generic black-and-gray armor and a helmet and visor favored by just about every third ECF trooper served to hide Chad's identity today. Only someone looking for him would have recognized him in that non-descript armor – Ben barely recalled spotting him on the range just ten minutes earlier.

"G'morning," he said wryly, letting Chad see how impressed he was. Would 1941's crew even notice they were missing one? He gave a quick smile. "Good cover."

Chad nodded at the compliment and pulled off the helmet, automatically brushing his blond hair out of his eyes. "Thanks. And thanks for making this a bit easier on me. Getting in and out of DexLabs undetected is no picnic, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it again. I got your message, so I take it you got my application."

Briefly Ben contemplated telling him that blue ink, complete sentences, and semi-colons had gone far towards scoring him a date, but he didn't know how much time Chad had and those details could wait. "I did," he said, "and now I've got a question for you."

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

_Miraculously, they were mostly dressed when Computress contacted them. Decontamination, which under normal circumstances consisted of an hour in the decontamination chamber followed by a half-hour shower, had ended up being an hour in the chamber and a three-hour shower. Ben loved showers, Dexter loved Ben, and Ben loved Dexter in the shower. To put it mildly, they were squeaky clean._

_"Dexter," said the super computer after chiming them (she knew better than to interrupt when they were in Dexter's private rooms). "I've finished with the files on Chad Dickson. Two of the files are identical. There are four videos and three document files. Would you like to see them?"_

_"In a moment," Dexter replied, shrugging on a fresh lab coat. "What time is it?"_

_"Five-oh-five PM."_

_"Print the document files. We'll join you in the lab."_

_Pulling on his purple gloves, he turned and looked at Ben, who sprawled on the loveseat behind him. He had gotten as far as putting on his jeans before opting to watch Dexter getting dressed. Appealing as a shirtless Ben Tennyson might be, though (and he was very appealing), they needed to be back home by six for dinner, and that meant clothes._

_"Ben – shirt."_

_He looked at the black t-shirt with distaste. "Do I have to?"_

_Playfully he balled up the shirt and threw it Ben's head. "If I'm going to be of any use with these files, yes."_

_Ben smiled, pleased with himself. He held up the shirt in question and said, "Sleep in it tonight and give it back in the morning and I will."_

_"Deal." He headed for the door, buttoning his coat as he went. "Come, my love. Lab."_

_Thus indulged, Ben scooped up his shirt and jacket and followed, dressing as they headed back to the lab. The quick walk sufficed to get their minds off each other and onto the business at hand. Once they reached Dexter's work station the redhead called, "Computress, play the videos."_

_There was no cuddling or snuggling this time around. With Nigel's best interests at stake, they were deathly serious. Side by side, they watched the videos the Kids Next Door had not wanted anyone, not even their own operatives, to see._

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

The handsome young man pressed his lips together in something close to a grimace, drawing a deep breath and bracing himself. It was very clear he was nervous over what Ben may or may not know or want to know. Standing a little straighter, he raised his chin and looked at Ben squarely. "I'll answer what I can, Commander, but I might not be able to tell you everything. I'm sure you understand."

"I do," Ben replied honestly. They were both soldiers in a war. Secrets made up huge parts of their lives.

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Well, before I get to that, I want you to know that Dexter's been helping me with this whole finding Nigel a date thing and . . . he's done his homework."

For a moment Chad Dickson was caught off guard, and then he let out his breath and closed his gaping mouth with an audible snap as things added up in his mind. He shook his head and sighed in equal parts admiration and annoyance. "Homework. Riiight. They thought it was the Kremlin."

Ben grinned, proud of his genius boyfriend. "He wanted them to."

"It's because I got into his headquarters, right? Tell him I promise I won't bust in again if he won't."

"I'll try. At least you guys got the new _Sumo Slammers_ game out of the deal."

Chad rethought his annoyance. "Yeah, that is pretty awesome."

"I hate you all," muttered Ben10, and Chad had to look away quickly to keep from getting caught gloating. Ben made a face, and before they could stop themselves, they both laughed. For a brief moment these two exceptional young men enjoyed the company of a peer, a rare event for them both. It passed all too quickly when a KND vehicle drove past. Chad turned his face away from the road, casually pointing as if something off the path was worth their attention. Taking his cue, Ben also looked away as if interested.

"We should keep moving," said Chad, getting back to business. He put his helmet back on, leaving the visor up. "What's C.H.O.P.S.T.I.C.K.?"

Ben fell in beside him. "Nothing. Dexter just knows how the KND filing system works."

There was a long pause.

"So. You saw my file," he said softly, bitterly.

"Yeah."

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

_A double agent. Chad Dickson was one of two KND operatives that had been retained beyond his thirteenth birthday. His supposed betrayal had been an elaborate ruse to entice the Teen Ninjas to recruit him. He had willingly let his name be smeared to continue serving the organization he loved, working behind the scenes to serve the KND even as he worked to thwart the Teen Ninjas and their allies. His cover was perfect – sometimes too perfect as he had been forced on several occasions to fight Sector V. There were several clips of ten- and eleven-year-old Nigel Uno reporting about Chad in scathing, almost acidic tones._

_"Man, he's got some serious issues with teenagers," observed Ben as a younger Number One ranted passionately._

_"Something tells me Mr. Dickson is in part responsible for that stance."_

_"Say what?"_

_Dexter crossed his arms and shrewdly said, "Methinks the Kid doth protest too much."_

_"Ah."_

_There were dozens of clips of Chad reporting to some unnamed superior that he had assisted the various sectors with missions. Most of these efforts, they were quick to note, had been in Sector V, and Nigel's name came up time and again as Chad thwarted one villain's plan after another. He was shown in various disguises and uniforms, and more than once he reported from a hospital bed. One intriguing bit of video footage showed Chad sitting in a shadowy room, in a chair in front of a desk, his elbows on his knees and his head hung low. He looked spent and defeated._

"After all this – they don't want me?" _the blond asked in pained disbelief._ "How can they do that to me?"

"I'm sorry, 274," _said a girl's voice._ "I don't think it's a question of they don't want you – I think it's just that you're needed here more. Something is coming, something terrible. Not even the Plumbers can stop it and it's heading toward earth. You've been reassigned. You're going to be posted here, on the moon base."

"What good can I do here, Rachel?" _he snapped, looking up in fury._

"You can keep me safe," _was her quiet reply, and he was stricken for having unleashed on her._

_"Rachel?" asked Dexter._

_"362. The Supreme Leader before Nigel was appointed. She was at the moon base when we lost contact."_

_"Who is this 'they'?"_

_He shrugged. "Someone a step up from Supreme Leader, I guess."_

_Dexter rolled his eyes at this very obvious statement._

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

Dickson's whole body seemed to sag with sudden fatigue and he stopped in his tracks. "Commander -"

"Call me Ben and I saw the whole thing."

He hesitated. "All of it?"

Ben nodded.

"The videos? All the reports?" confirmed Chad. He stepped in front of Ben and seized him by the forearms in a powerful hold, anxiety and excitement in his blue eyes.

"Everything."

Relief filled him. Loosening his grip, Chad lowered his head and gasped.

"You okay?" asked Ben, putting his hand on Chad's shoulder reassuringly.

His voice shook the least bit. "I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that someone else has seen that whole file. It's the only proof I've got. 362 was the only one that knew anything about what I'm doing for the Kids Next Door and now that she's gone . . . I didn't think there'd be any way I could convince anyone that I'm not a traitor."

"I believe you."

"You can't tell anyone, Ben."

"Swear. And don't worry about Dexter, he never sees anyone anyway, but I'll let him know."

"Thank you," breathed Number 274, and Ben knew it was thanks for far more than a promise of silence.

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

_"You were right, Dex."_

_"Of course. Which time?"_

_"He's the one."_

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

"Which brings us around to my question," said Ben.

Still overwhelmed, Chad gave him a weak half-smile. "What do you want to know?"

Ben matched him smile for smile. "So where you taking Nigel tomorrow night?"


	9. Arrested Development

"Seriously, Dex, I haven't seen anyone so excited since Bubbles discovered role playing."

"Tell me he didn't squee."

"Uh, no, thankfully."

"How was it he wasn't on the moon when it became Infected?"

"Well, you saw that his mom and dad are, well, _villains_ ," said Ben, amused at the lack of a better word. "It was his mom's birthday. Apparently the KND has figured out it's just easier to send Chad home for holidays and stuff like that rather than have Mega Mom and Destructo Dad come looking for him."

"Sounds it," agreed Dexter. "He must feel guilty."

"It's killing him."

"I understand," the Boy Genius said softly. His creation of the Null-Void, the only weapon effective against the Fusion invasion, was what had drawn Planet Fusion to earth.

Knowing what was on his boyfriend's mind, Ben reached out and pulled Dexter against his side in a one-armed hug. "Well, since whoever ranks higher than 362 made him the Supreme Leader's bodyguard and since he couldn't get any guidance or new orders, he just went from guarding Rachel to Nigel."

"But of course she knew, Nigel doesn't, and at present he has no way of knowing his date for tomorrow evening is not a traitor to all he holds dear." The redhead took a moment to contemplate the situation, clearly enjoying the potential. "It's not _quite_ ironic, but it's certainly an intriguing situation."

"Yeah, well, Nigel not knowing is running Chad ragged."

"I understand that, too."

"I think it'll work for them if we can get them talking. Chad knows about the issues Nigel has with food and stuff. He's pretty anxious that he hasn't been eating too well lately."

"He's in a position to know?"

"Apparently except when he's called away for stuff like meeting me and convincing the Teen Ninjas he's still one of them, he's never too far from Nigel's location."

"Did Nigel tell him about his eating disorder?"

"No. I honestly think I'm the only one Nigel ever talked to about that. I think Chad just figured it out. Then again, he's known Nigel since he was eight or so. He would have noticed something like that."

"Where is he now?"

"Still around. Nigel's due back tomorrow, so he'll just pick up the trail on their date. Hopefully."

Dexter nodded, then said in a sing-song, dreamy voice, "With luck they'll hit it off beautifully, all will be revealed, all will be forgiven, and the brilliant Supreme Leader and his handsome bodyguard will be inseparable forever more."

"Have you been reading Bubbles' fanfic?"

"God, no. I was talking about us."

Ben laughed and kissed Dexter's ear. "I just have to get hold of Nigel and explain the situation."

"He may want to strangle you."

"Wouldn't be the first time." He shrugged. "Meh. I'll just turn into Humungosaur. Good luck strangling a dinosaur. Can I get a copy of those files?"

"Of course. Can I get another kiss?"

"Of course."

**_**_()()()()()()()()()_ ** _ **

"You're really going through with this."

There was a distinct harshness in Hoagie's tone that made Ben wrap both hands around his smoothie and hold it close and safe, just in case he needed to protect it from the wrath of Two. He took a sip before saying,

"What, finding Nigel a date? Yeah. I told you I was. Or I told Number Five and she told you. Whatever. I found Nigel a date."

Hoagie Gilligan frowned. His concern was genuine and it was evident he had zero faith in Ben's skill as a matchmaker. If only he knew. "He doesn't have time for this, Ben."

"I had the exact same conversation with Nigel on Monday afternoon. That's the point, Hoagie. He doesn't have time, I'm on leave for a week, I found him a date."

The shorter teen gave him a suspicious look. "Who with?"

 _With whom_ , growled Dexter's voice in Ben's head. He mentally shooed his boyfriend aside and pointed smartly at the KND. "Not telling."

Number Two crossed his arms impatiently in a stance he'd learned from his grandmother. "Why not?"

"Because it's Nigel's date, not yours. If you want me to find you one, too, just give me a few day's notice."

"What? I don't - no! I don't want you to find me a date."

"Your loss, dude. Your boss pulled in record crowds, and he scored a seriously hot dish."

"Your choice for Nigel's girlfriend is based on looks?" squawked Number Two incredulously.

"I'm not that shallow, Hoagie," defended Ben. "The good looks are just a bonus."

"When I heard you were planning this I got pretty apprehensive. I don't think this is the smart thing to do."

He smiled. "Tell that to Dexter."

"Ben . . ."

"I told Nigel I would do this and he didn't say no. He just told me who and what he didn't want to date. Seemed like a green light to me."

"What was he supposed to say right after he broke up with Lizzie?"

He felt himself channeling Dexter and he even imitated that Eastern European accent as he glibly replied, "No."

Hoagie's voice dropped low and he leaned in close to whisper, "This isn't the time. Not many people know this, but the Kremlin hacked into the KND network the other day. We're working double and triple shifts to shore up our security and figure out what they were after. We're all stressed to the max. Nigel's exhausted and vulnerable right now."

"I know," Ben replied in kind. "Did you know he's not eating or sleeping, either?" That bit of information had come from his talk with Dickson, and it didn't seem to surprise the listener too much. Given Hoagie's attitude toward this whole business, Ben was infinitely glad he hadn't asked any of the KND for information on 274. This conversation alone was taking a toll on his friendship with Gilligan, but he hoped everything would be set aright, just like Dexter had imagined. "He's had his whole foundation yanked out from underneath him and dumped on his shoulders. I'm trying to get some stability back in his life. What are you doing for him?"

"I'm trying to protect him," stated Number Two, his anger evident.

He thought of Chad and his standing orders to protect the Supreme Leader. Hoagie was right - Nigel was exhausted and vulnerable. With no anger at all, Ben said, "So am I."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

Friday morning found Ben10 exiled from the laboratory ("You're too distracting! I can't focus!" "I'm just sitting here, Dex." "Exactly!") and for want of occupation, he helped Mrs. Warthog and Nazz with the pizza party plans. Movies and cartoons would be played in the lounge that doubled as DexLabs' auditorium, and Edd was already setting up the sound system in the cafeteria, and every pizza place in town was providing food. As was his usual habit, Professor Utonium had matched the funds accumulated, allowing them to double the amount of food. They all knew perfectly well there wouldn't be a crumb left over.

Since he could access almost the entire building, Ben was given the oh-so-glamorous job of hanging up signs advertising the party. Armed with posters and tape, he hit all the high-traffic areas. Three or four people handed him their applications, and Ben gave them a well-deserved look that let them know they didn't stand a chance. Midway through the day a Dexbot came buzzing up to him and delivered a hand-held holo projector. It was a flat, silvery disk just big enough to fill his palm, about a quarter inch thick, with an indented circle on its surface. They were neat little gizmos, with the capacity to project images large enough to fill a movie screen, with a surprisingly decent sound system, too. He knew without being told that this was the copy of the videos and files he'd asked for.

He was sliding the projector into his pocket when the alarms suddenly sounded. He recognized the claxons immediately - there was a Fusion attack, and it was close enough that the troops at DexLabs Headquarters had to respond.

 _"Alert! Alert! Fusion forces attacking Reunion Station outpost,"_ called Computress' voice over the comm system. _"All KND and ECF forces respond! Transports will launch in fifteen minutes outside Hangar 2."_

"Oh, come on!" Ben yelled at the powers that be, as if somehow they cared. "I'm on vacation!"

 _"This is not a drill,"_ Computress seemed to add purely for Ben Tennyson's benefit.

He waited a moment, but the alarms didn't go away. With a very childish grumble, he put down the posters and tape where he was and stomped away, muttering.

_"Are you getting this?"_

A comm cube appeared in the air before him and he indulged in a hearty glare at Mandy. It had zero effect on his pointy-haired boss, but it made him feel better.

"Kinda hard to miss!" he snapped.

_"Einstein is getting more info. I need you to lead this one until Number One and the rest of his team arrive."_

"Yeah, yeah," Ben said, bent on letting her know how completely inconsiderate he felt the Fusions were being right now. He had bigger fish to fry than Fusions, namely figuring out how to tell Nigel his date for tonight was someone he was thoroughly convinced was a traitor to the Kids Next Door. "Do _not_ cancel that pizza party tonight, Mandy. I'll fly ahead and scout it out."

_"Keep us posted."_

"Don't I always?"

_"No."_

He ignored her. Since transforming was not allowed inside DexLabs (for the most part - Dexter's laboratory didn't really count), he stepped outside, dialing the Omnitrix as he walked. He could hear shouts as the assembled troops headed off to battle. Briefly he wondered if Chad was joining the throng a moment before he slammed down the dial on the alien device.

_"Jetray!"_

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

Dexter frowned. This attack was ill-timed for his purposes, but he saw no reason to let it stop him from what he had planned. It hadn't been hard for him to get Ben out of the laboratory. He hadn't exactly lied when he'd claimed he couldn't concentrate with Ben around, but when he was around Dexter could concentrate on nothing else _but_ Ben.

"Computress, locate Chad Dickson if he is present on my property."

The super computer was coordinating the transports, handling all communications, collecting data on the attacking Fusions, running DexLabs and DexCorp, tracking shipping, monitoring production in the plants, running thirty-two different analyses (including one for Mr Green's fudge brownie recipe) and sixty-seven scientific experiments, scouring the internet for useful or stolen information, and securing the safety of her creator among many other things. Tracking down one Teen Ninja was a simple matter of analyzing all available security cameras (including the ones Security didn't know about) until she pinpointed and cross-referenced his image.

"He's in Hangar 1," Computress announced seconds later.

"What is he doing?"

"Checking his weapons. I believe he intends to join the troops heading to the battle."

Dexter nodded, not in the least surprised. Nigel was racing toward the fight as well. He hit a button on his work station and immediately a screen was projected before him. "Sgt. Morton, I need your assistance."

His chief of security looked a bit harried. Immense amounts of preparation went into each battle and inevitably the loose ends were picked up by Morton and his team. An attack this close - Dexter had no idea where Reunion Station was, but he knew it was close if DexLabs was on the alert - meant all the bigger headache for Morton and it seemed he'd gotten a jump on it early.

_"What do you need, sir? And do not tell me you need to leave."_

Morton was one of three adults that could give Dexter orders that he'd actually obey without question. His last sentence was purely preemptive.

"I'm not going anywhere," promised Dexter. "I need you to arrest someone for me."

That was probably the last thing the blond officer expected at this particular instant, and Chip Morton was a man pretty used to weirdness (and not just from Dexter). All DexLabs Security officers had the power of arrest on corporate property owned by Dexter, though they rarely exercised it. For a moment he was treated to a bland stare, and then Morton blinked and got to business.

_"Who and on what charge?"_

"Chad Dickson, former KND Operative 274. Let the charge be trespassing. Have someone drive you to Hangar 1 and I'll fill in the details on the way."

If he was confused, Morton didn't show it. _"On my way, sir."_

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

He was watching intently from his hiding spot, waiting for the right moment to join the troops hurrying to board the SCAMPERS and aeroships being pulled out of the adjacent hangar. He didn't dare get on with too many KND troops. Even with his armor as a disguise, there was a chance he could be recognized. He couldn't risk it. Not now. Not when he was so close. Not when he . . .

Chad Dickson smiled to himself. Not when he had a date tonight, thank you Commander Tennyson. He felt a happy tension run through him that had nothing to do with the pending battle and everything to do with being given a chance to talk to Nigel again. _Really_ talk to him, not just exchange barbs as they had in the past when their paths had crossed. Ben had promised to show Number One the files that had been encrypted, the only proof there was of Chad's loyalty and the only hope he had of having a chance with Nigel.

He heard a vehicle approach, but that was hardly anything new or remarkable, given the excitement of heading to battle and he ignored it as he saw his chance. The aeroship _March_ \- an apt name for a troop transport, he thought - was just starting to load. Most of the soldiers piling on were from Earth's Combined Forces. It would be simple to lose himself among them.

Rising from his hiding spot, Chad put on his helmet. A moment later ear-splitting feedback from the helmet's comm unit almost deafened him. Involuntarily, he gave a shout and yanked the helmet off, gasping and wincing and pressing a hand to his ear. He shook his head, trying to clear the intense pain.

"You okay, son?"

He turned, saw blond hair, blue eyes, and gray body armor, and instantly he knew he was neck-deep in trouble. Everyone in the KND knew who this man was and who he had been: Charles Phillip Morton, former Navy SEAL, former executive officer of the submarine _SSRN Seaview_ , former KND Operative Number 126, and now the terror of DexLabs.

"Uh, yeah." Chad tried to edge away, gesturing at the helmet. "Must've gotten some weird signal. I'll just go join my troop."

"Hold on a moment."

It took everything he had not to grimace.

"I'll miss my ship," he tried, desperate to get away and sensing he didn't have a chance.

"That's fine," Morton said with infuriating calm. "I need you to come with me now."

Perhaps a challenge would help, though he doubted it. "Do you have a reason for stopping me, Sergeant?"

Morton folded his arms, smiling faintly. "I have 274 reasons."


	10. Cinderella Story

Unable to grasp that he'd been arrested – arrested! He was eighteen! This would go on his record! His parents would flip and go all evil, he just knew it. Worst yet, there was a battle going on, the KND Supreme Leader was en route to it right now, and if he didn't get out of here fast, how the heck was he going to take Nigel on a date? - Chad dropped weakly onto the rack along one side of the holding cell, overwhelmed by circumstances. He'd had no idea until this moment that DexLabs even _had_ holding cells. Looks like he was learning the hard way . . .

With a groan he held his head into his hands. He knew without looking that despite his skills and training, he was stuck. It would be a wasted effort even to try escaping. There were too many adults and too many layers of security between him and freedom and his date tonight. After missing the battle, that was the worst part of this. He really, really, really wanted to go on this date, too. There was so much he wanted to say to Nigel, so much he was desperate to put straight. Would he ever get the chance? Would they let him contact anyone? Who would he call? Not the Teen Ninjas. God, not his parents. Ben. He'd call Tennyson. If nothing else, Ben might vouch for him. What a mess.

It felt like as many years, but perhaps fifteen minutes had passed since Sgt. Morton, who was about as emotional and communicative as a brick, had locked him in here. Chad was too upset and inexperienced to realize he had not been processed or charged in any way, just detained. Only his helmet and weapons had been taken - he was still wearing his armor. In his mind, it was all one and the same, and he fought to keep his misery in check as the door to the cell block opened. He steeled his features, fully prepared to be squared off against the security chief again, and faltered when he found himself face-to-face with a short kid in thick glasses studying him through the barred wall.

Chad stared, hardly able to believe his eyes. This was quite possibly the last person he'd ever expected to see in person, let alone meet. Slowly, mechanically he rose to his feet, too astonished even to push the hair out of his eyes.

"You . . . you're Dexter."

A shrewd look answered, and when the boy spoke, that accent confirmed his identity as much as his words.

"I am."

"Did you have me arrested?"

"I did."

"Why? What do you want?"

In a matter-of-fact tone, looking as if this was a regular event for him, Dexter said, "I want to threaten you."

"Oh . . . kay," Chad said slowly, frowning in confusion. He mulled on this development a moment, knowing better than to dismiss a threat from the likes Dexter. "Um . . . why?"

Dexter clasped his hands behind his back and raised his chin, subconsciously letting Chad know who was in charge here. "I have very few friends, Mr. Dickson. I have neither the disposition nor opportunity to meet many people who don't want something from me. The few friends I do have are of great importance to me. I will go to any length to ensure their well-being and happiness, so know this, _Chad_ : your perceived betrayal hurt Nigel deeply. Hurt him again and you will regret it."

Now he understood. He could even appreciate Dexter's desire (and capacity) to threaten him, and Chad harbored no doubt that he'd be as good as his word. He had also opened himself up, and Chad got the sense that was something he did only very, very rarely. Such brutal honesty deserved to be matched. "Nigel is my friend too, Dexter, or he was. And I hope he will be again."

Cold eyes in a cool expression regarded him. Chad felt as if he was at the business end of a microscope as Dexter said, "I read your application. You expressed a great deal of concern and insight into Nigel's health."

"I worry about him. I know what it's like to be Supreme Leader. I've been there. It's hard. And lonely. And I could have used a friend. It's too easy to get lost in the job." He paused, catching himself, and got back on point. "Nigel needs to rest and unwind more. I know he doesn't eat as much as he should."

"How do you know this?"

"I've been watching over him and Sector V for years. I know they tease him. It's become a habit. They don't see the toll it takes on him."

"And what would you do to rectify the damage done by his closest friends?"

"Let him know how much I care. Tell him how awesome he is, just as he is." When Dexter didn't respond, he quickly added, "And get him to sit down and eat every day, even if I'm not there."

"As bodyguard to the Supreme Leader, wouldn't an intimate relationship with him compromise both of you?"

This kid pulled no punches. Chad blinked, surprised at Dexter's directness. He approached the situation like a scientist, which was pretty fitting, all in all. It was at once embarrassing and a relief - there was no time to beat around the bush with a battle raging.

"Not if we do it right," he said aloud.

Silence. Dexter stared at him, the light glinting off his glasses. After a long moment the inventor challenged, "Do you even know what that would entail?"

"No," Chad confessed, and then added, "But I'm a fast learner."

"Indeed," was the thoughtful reply.

He stepped forward, gripping the bars of the cell. "Please, let me out of here."

"Where will you go if I do?"

"Reunion Station. Number One is on his way there right now. I've got to keep him safe. It's my job and . . ." It seemed the right point to come totally clean. "And I've _really_ been looking forward to this date since Ben told me I'm the one he picked. I've just got to get there . . . _now_. Before it's too late."

"How? Surely all the transports have left."

"I don't know. I'll walk if I have to. If you care about Nigel so much, let me go."

Dexter was still for a few heartbeats. Time seemed to have slowed to a stop for Chad, and he could not help but let his desperation show a bit. He had absolutely no idea of what Dexter might do or say. All he knew was that he had to get to that battle and make sure that the Supreme Leader made it out unharmed. It made no difference what he had to do to get Dexter to let him go, so long as he did. He heard himself quietly beg, "Please."

The redhead stirred and glanced over his shoulder, ordering, "Sergeant, open the doors."

For the first time Chad noticed Chip Morton standing by the door to the cell block. He gestured, and some guard in the command center monitoring the cell block opened the cell. By the time the bars lowered into the floor and walls, Morton was standing directly behind his boss.

"You said you were a fast learner," Dexter said. "How fast is fast?"

He had no idea of what was being offered, but he nonetheless jumped on it. "However fast you can get me there."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

"Whoa."

Chad fell back a step and almost bounced off of Sgt. Morton as he realized exactly where he was. Dexter's underground laboratory. It was too fantastic to be believed, and if he had a week to look around it wouldn't be enough.

"Better catch up, sir," warned Morton. "Trust me - you don't want to get lost in here."

He jogged to reach the white lab coat as it moved through the shadows, catching up with Dexter as the scientist punched in a code on a storage unit. Chad could not help but stare with awe at the towering Megabots lined up against the wall behind them, the faint light of the lab equipment gleaming off their metallic armor. They were elegant and deadly and Dexter caught the longing in Chad's eyes.

"Not even you're that quick a study," Dexter said with a knowing smirk, putting the kibosh on Chad's lust. He pulled a case about the size of a backpack out of the unit. "However, this will get you to where you're going almost as quickly and with a lot less potential for collateral damage upon landing."

"What is it?" he asked eagerly.

"The Mark IV military grade hover board prototype." Dexter set the case on the ground and opened it, revealing a compact roll of segments held together by cables. As Chad watched in fascination, Dexter set it on the floor and in one hard swipe, unrolled it. The plastic segments clattered against the floor, looking almost like a fish bone.

Glancing up to make sure Dickson was attending, Dexter it a button on one end of the board. "Power. Lock."

With a quiet hum the segments drew tight along the cables, knitting together seamlessly and locking into place. It was a little larger than a snowboard, broader at the ends, and about two inches thick. The top surface was textured, the bottom surface smooth and glowing faintly.

"How does it work?" he demanded, as anxious to try it out as he was to be away.

"Stand on it."

Chad clapped his helmet on his head and stepped onto the board. Immediately it rose a foot in the air.

"Lean forward to make it move, back to slow. It needs weight upon it to work, so if you fall off, it will land."

He couldn't help the little sound of awe and delight that escaped him as he tried it out.

"How fast can it go?" he called, zipping around the open area. It banked and cornered like a dream, the textured surface giving his booted feet a firm hold.

"Very!" Dexter called. "I need it back! It's a prototype. And I'll need to debrief you on it after your date. Return it to Security or Commander Tennyson."

He came to an awkward stop in front of Dexter. "Thank you," he said earnestly, knowing this level of trust and respect was not easily gained. He held out his hand, anxious to share how much this meant to him and wondering if it was ever possible that they might be friends some day.

Dexter stared at his hand as if he'd never seen one before and it might bite, and Chad had the sinking feeling he'd misstepped. He was about to drop his hand, not sure of what else to do to express the depth of his gratitude. Struggling for a brave front, Dexter braced himself and hesitantly shook his hand. For all he was completely uncomfortable with the gesture, his grip was strong, and Chad felt a wave of relief at the contact.

"I'll get it back to you."

"I know," said the redhead sharply, stepping away. "Now get going. Sergeant, see that his weapons are returned and then please show Mr. Dickson out."

Chad grinned as he picked up the board, never so happy to be thrown out of a place in his whole life.


	11. The Dating Game: KND Edition

"It looks like we've got three Junkasaurus Wrecks and five Slaughter Houses on the move. I didn't hear from you, so I figured you must have lost my number! What should I wear for my date with Nigel tonight?"

"I got him fuzzy little cat ears! Just like mine! So kawaii, ne?"

"Commander, we've got a Killdozer heading this way and do you know if Number One is vegan because I totally don't eat murdered animals."

"I'm thinking Nigel and I should start simple, like with a movie or a romantic walk. I am _so_ not rushing into this, but I think it's going to work out really well and we'll be married next spring. Oh, and they're calling for backup over by the garbage dump."

"I've got lots of friends that would settle for going out with you instead of Nigel, so we can all have a double date, okay?"

"You told him I'm a Jedi, right?"

Okay, so maybe Numbers Two and Five had a point about this not being the brightest idea he'd ever cooked up.

"Focus on your targets, people!" Ben bellowed, vainly wishing he'd crawled under a rock and hid instead of responding to Mandy's call. "We're here to fight Fusions, remember?"

He had a headache that had nothing to do with the heat or dust or battle and everything to do with getting idiots to pay attention and, you know, _shoot_ the walking houses that were trying to stomp them into pancakes. It seemed as if every child soldier present was more interested in Nigel Uno's love life as it pertained to them personally than fending off the Fusion attack. Had they all become so jaded that murderous construction equipment wasn't nearly as important as Nigel's favorite color or perfume or food or music, or were they all so desperate for a break in the routine of constant battle and training? Thank god there was a pizza party tonight or half the army was going to have a meltdown, Ben among them.

Reunion Station had turned out to be an unfinished housing development a little past the edge of what Ben would call civilization. Like the outlying areas around Bellwood, it was pretty much a few square miles of desert with scraggly plants, crumbling roads, and abandoned vehicles amidst the shells of half-built houses. A miserable place, but the detritus of a construction site was prime fodder for Fusion Spawns to make their Mechs and monsters.

So that was how he ended up spending Friday morning of his vacation battling the alien love child of a Constructicon and a Dinobot. Right now they didn't have enough boots on the ground to do more than try to hold the rampaging monsters where they were and minimize the damage. He was sorely not in the mood, so he understood the distraction of the people around him even if it did send his annoyance levels up off the scale. What was more, the Omnitrix was copping an attitude and refused to give him any of the aliens he wanted. Brainstorm was hardly his first choice for taking on towering mechanical dinosaurs, and a small herd of green KND troops had shot Goop full of holes before they realized he wasn't an overgrown Fusion Spawn. Spidermonkey was only marginally better than Brainstorm in a pitched fight – he was far better suited to battlefields with lots of vertical surfaces, like a forest. This whole area was too flat for an Arachnichimp to be really effective, and he had a metabolism that would burn out Ben and the Omnitrix if he wasn't cautious, so after a few minutes and gobs of web all over the Junkasaurus Wrecks' knees, he gave up and reverted back to human form.

"Why don't you ever give me Rath when I want him?" demanded Ben, fed up with alien technology. If Azmuth was so smart why didn't this thing work the way it was supposed to? Dexter's stuff never crapped out like this. People gave him weird looks for yelling at his watch, but he'd take the looks over being pestered about _The Dating Game: KND Edition_.

Luckily they were getting backup at a steady pace. SCAMPERs and aeroships were dropping off fresh troops and supplies. Despite their efforts, the Fusion monsters were making headway and if Ben wasn't mistaken, they were multiplying. Great. It was going to be one of _those_ battles.

He felt a wave of relief when he saw Nigel's SCAMPER arrive. A sense of order seemed to sweep the field when the KND Supreme Leader stepped off the bus and immediately deployed the newly arrived troops. Ben ordered the first wave of ECF and KND troops to fall back. They needed a quick breather before the heat got to be too much.

"What's the situation?" demanded Nigel briskly. A holo projector set up on the fender of the SCAMPER showed foot-high images of Dexter, Mandy, Computress, and Number Two, as well as schematics of the battlefield and their forces.

"Junkasauruses made out of mostly construction vehicles and plumbing, plus half a dozen Slaughter Houses. We wrecked one, but it reformed," reported Ben, panting. Someone handed him a bottle of water and he gladly downed half of it in a shot.

 _"That can only mean one thing,"_ Number Two called, busy flying a SCAMPER. _"There's a Fusion there."_

Yep, definitely one of _those_ battles.

 _"Any idea which one?"_ demanded Mandy.

"No sign of it yet," Ben replied, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Dex?"

 _"Nothing yet,"_ said the redhead, safe and cool in the conference room in DexLabs he'd converted to a war room at Nigel's request _._ Ben was grateful he was so well removed from the battle. _"Whoever spots it first give the alarm. We'll be able to plan when we know what we're up against."_

 _"Fire up_ The Princess _in case we need more fire power."_

Dexter fumed, and they all knew he was shooting Mandy's image a foul look. The _August X-1,_ nicknamed _The Princess_ by DeeDee, was the fastest, most heavily armed vessel in his fleet and something of a bone of contention between the ECF Commander and the scientist. Dexter viewed it as a doomsday weapon, Mandy as a taxi. They would never agree, nor did they even try. Ben had the sense not to smile, but he thought Dexter looked adorable when he glowered like that. The tension was broken when a handful of passing girls cooed at Nigel, confusing the Supreme Leader and making him frown.

 _"Computress, ready the_ August _and her crew, launch on my order only,"_ instructed Dexter, out-maneuvering Mandy even as he complied with her order.

"We'll call if things get too hot," promised Number One. "Number Two, pedal to the metal. Dexter, call the moment you have any more details or get a bead on what we're facing. Commander, we'll be in touch." The images vanished and Nigel scooped up the projector, depositing it in a pocket on his cargo shorts. He turned to Ben. "How are your troops?"

"I ordered them to get a drink and take ten. They should be ready to get back out there. We've got minor injuries - splinters, mostly."

"Good. And you?"

He chugged the last mouthful of water. "All yours, pal."

"Then let's get to work. Dexter is sending Blossom. She'll be a tremendous help when she gets here. In the meantime, give me something I can use, Commander Tennyson!"

Grinning happily, Ben dialed the Omnitrix. "I hope this thing likes you more than me today. Humungausaur!"

He slapped the control down and-

" _Big Chill._ Oh, man." For a moment the huge blue moth slumped as he hovered in midair, and then muttered, "Okay. I can work with this. Thanks for nothing, Azmuth."

Suddenly their comm units squawked. Nigel activated his immediately.

"Report!"

 _"It's your Fusion double, Number One,"_ said Dexter, his voice under tight control. _"Computress just confirmed his presence north northwest of your location on the outskirts of the site. Be careful. That one is fast even for a Fusion."_

Though his dark glasses concealed his eyes for the most part, Ben knew his friend was rattled. Such a move was a deliberate ploy by the Fusions. They were trying to frighten the new Supreme Leader, mocking him. Nigel took a breath and steeled himself, refusing to be ruled by fear.

"Understood," he said to Dexter, forcing a crisp edge to his voice that filled Ben with pride. "Keep us informed if he moves." He looked at Ben with grim determination. "Shall we?"

They plunged into the battle. Ben could tell it was taking every last shred of Nigel's self-control not to rush to the van where the fighting was thickest. It was no longer his place and the price he paid for leadership, so he hung back and directed the order of battle and resisted the instinct to go tearing after the Fusion monsters personally. Briefly Ben wondered if Chad was here, and then a Junkasaurus Wrecks tried to swat him out of the sky with its spiked tail and he snapped into action.

It was amazing what deep freezing could do to metal and wood. Metal shattered. Wood exploded into splinters. Given the proximity of Fusions to fighters, Big Chill had to be cautious with the ice breath and selective with what he froze, but there was no denying the satisfaction of smashing metal limbs. He didn't dare get too involved with the enemy forces to forget their leader. The Fusion Number One was an ugly cuss possessed of incredible speed and the usual ruthlessness and inhuman strength of its kind.

Time lost all meaning as he dove and swooped and fought, phasing in and out of the Fusions, snatching human troops out of the way, darting here and there all about Reunion Station. At first it seemed that for every monster they destroyed another just took its place. That was at first. It wasn't too long before the ante was upped and two or even three monsters replaced the ones they had taken down.

 _"The Fusion Number One - it's moving,"_ barked Dexter, overriding all comm units.

Big Chill shot straight up in the air to get a decent view of the battlefield. "What direction?"

 _"South southwest,"_ called the scientist. _"Right towards Number One's location."_

He twisted, trying to get his bearings. The moment of distraction was almost fatal.

_WHAM!_

The huge, clawed limb smashed into the Necrofriggian from behind, knocking him out of the air. He crashed through the roof of an abandoned house a moment before the Junkasaurus Wrecks tried to tear the building down on top of him. The impact jarred him back into human form and he lay there stunned and aching.

_"Ben!"_

Dexter. He was monitoring the battle. He must have known Ben was in his bug-on-a-windshield mode. His voice was frantic, and Ben pushed himself upright.

_"Ben! Get up! Get out of there! Nigel needs you!"_

Not to mention the whole building coming down around his ears thing. He knew at this point Nigel was just a cover for what Dexter wanted and needed - namely, for Ben to be safe - but he couldn't say as much over the radios.

_"Ben!"_

He staggered out the unfinished garage just as the Junkasaurus came through the roof.

"M'good, Dex," he muttered, stumbling to the relative shelter of a few stunted trees. The Junakasaurus Wrecks was a particularly stupid one – it had been chasing a gigantic blue bug and it was determined to catch one, so Ben went ignored as it dismembered the half-built house in search of its prey.

"Where is it, Dex?" he asked, his voice sounding thick and almost slurred. Despite the need to get further away, Ben slid to his knees, leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree and hanging his aching head.

 _"It's heading straight through the battle towards Number One's position. You may be able to see it. I've already dispatched the_ August _."_

See? Not yet. Hear? Definitely. He dragged his attention towards the disturbance. A cloud of dust was spreading out, moving at incredible speed across the development, flattening anything in its path. Screams of fear and pain rose up at the thickest point of the fight as something forced its way through the ranks of KND and ECF fighters. Like a shot out of a cannon, the Fusion Number One barreled through their defenses, keyed in on its human counterpart. Monsters and Fusion Spawn followed in its wake as it charged, splitting the small army. Ben dialed the Omnitrix, desperate for anything.

_"Jetray!"_

_Finally_ something useful. He ignored a surge of Aerophibian-equivalent nausea and he leaped to the air just as Blossom arrived. They met over the center of the battlefield as the Fusion Number One drove a wedge straight towards the Supreme Leader.

"Stop those Fusion monsters!" ordered the Jetray. "I've got Nigel!"

"On it!" She nodded and dove right into the fight. Seeing the leader of the Powerpuff Girls in action, Ben blessed Chemical X a thousand times over as he twisted midair and rocketed towards the spot he'd left Nigel not half an hour earlier.

It was chaos. Fusion Spawns were everywhere, joining and splitting as they tried to make it past the rings of defenders. Null-Void guns filled the air with their high-pitched whines and bolts of blinding-bright energy. He caught a quick glimpse of Nigel giving orders and adding his own firepower to the fight. Jetfire opened up, shooting lasers from his eyes and tail. The energy he produced was too much for the Spawns, and a huge swath of them was incinerated, filling the air with greenish smoke that burned the soldiers' eyes and throats. He struck again and again, trying to buy their side some time until the air was so thick with smoke he couldn't pick his targets out anymore.

Then he turned on the closest Junkasaurus Wrecks, a lumbering beast made of cars and ancient excavation equipment and steel drums. It was moments away from the Supreme Leader's position. Putting Jetray's super speed to use, he smashed through it at its weakest points – its joints. He chopped its knees from beneath it, sending it crashing backwards for Blossom to finish off. The red-haired girl paused, looking past him.

"Nigel!" she screamed, pointing.

Ben whipped around and was moving before he even knew what he was getting himself into. Fear gripped his alien heart as he saw the one-on-one struggle. The Fusion had reached Nigel.

The KND's knees were bloody as if he'd been thrown down, and his gun was missing. He strained to stay upright, gripping his doppleganger by the wrists as his Fusion used its greater strength to force Nigel back. His boots dug into the soft, dusty ground, gouging the earth as he refused to step down. Tireless and unrelenting, it was toying with him, letting him wear himself out in what for it was a useless struggle, but for Nigel a fight for his life. Suddenly Nigel twisted both arms to the side, unbalancing the Fusion and using his momentum to land a terrific roundhouse kick on the thing's midsection. The Fusion staggered, then swung, striking Nigel a glancing backhand blow even as it laid hold of his sweater. It yanked him in close, one hand tightening around the KND's throat. The Fusion had no mouth with which to smile, but its twisted pleasure was evident as it tightened its grip, moving slowly to prolong the torture and its enjoyment.

Jetray put on a burst of speed as the Fusion raised its fist. One blow at this range could easily kill Nigel, and they were too close together to open up with any lasers. He was still seconds away when suddenly out of the surrounding Bedlam a dark form moved between Ben and the Fusion Number One. In a rush of dust and wind, Jetray barely halted in midair to avoid crashing with an armored fighter on a hover board. The newcomer drove the board right into the Fusion at full speed, knocking the green creature away and freeing Number One. For a moment Nigel's savior struggled to keep balanced before getting lost in the smoke and confusion.

Nigel hit the ground, scrambling for his Null-Void as the Fusion surged to its feet. It whipped around, fury written in every line of its being at being denied the pleasure of killing its counterpart.

"Fire!" Number One screamed hoarsely, and in a single motion all the surrounding troops – Ben included - laid into the Fusion. Overwhelmed by so much concentrated Null-Void energy, the Fusion exploded in a stinky rain of burned Fusion Matter and acrid smoke and frustrated anger.

Instantly the tide of battle turned. Without a leader to direct their half of the conflict and renew their supply of monsters, the Fusions were on their own. The arrival of the _August_ with its many guns gave them all fresh energy, and between Blossom, the _August_ , Ben, and the boots on the ground, they made short work of the remaining Fusions.

When the battle was whittled down to sniping the few remaining Fusion Spawns, Ben landed and transformed a few feet from Nigel's command post. Still a little dazed and in need of water and some pain killers, Ben plopped down on the steps into Nigel's SCAMPER and hung his head as the cleanup began.

"Here – you need this," said a familiar voice, and he looked up as Number Two handed him a bottle of water. Ben hadn't seen him arrive, but judging by the amount of dust clinging to him, he'd been here for a while.

"Thanks," he said. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

He needed to call Dexter, even though his boyfriend would know the battle was over. The redhead would be happier for hear it from Ben himself. "I need a vacation from my vacation. How's Nige?"

"I'll do," said an English accent and Nigel plopped down on the step right below Ben's with a groan. He was winded and dirty and bruised and there was blood on his legs and face, but he was alive. Hoagie fetched him some water as well.

"That was too close," chided Number Two, his concern evident as he looked at Nigel's scraped knees.

"Agreed."

"I'll get Seventy-Seven. Stay here."

As Hoagie scurried off to fetch the doctor, Number One leaned back heavily against Ben's leg, letting himself relax. "That was disturbing."

"Yeah, that Fusion murder/suicide thing they all want to pull is pretty freaky."

"Do you know who it was that saved me? I just saw armor and a hover board."

Ben shrugged, but he'd recognized that hover board even from a distance. He knew there was only one like it and where it had come from – Dexter's laboratory. At the moment, he could think of only one person he would have entrusted it to in a crisis. Aloud he said,

"No idea. Maybe they'll come forward tonight."

"Tonight?" wondered Nigel, pushing his sunglasses back into place.

"Pizza party, dude," reminded Ben, giving the younger man a pointed look. Nigel opened his mouth to protest, but Ben cut him off. "Whatever you're about to say you have to do, you've got minions for that, O Supreme Leader. You have a date tonight, buster."

"This is hardly the time -"

"This is exactly the time." He bent low against his knees to look at his friend. "You're rattled. I get that. Been there, done that. You need to get your mind off of things, if only for a night. You need this."

"I don't want to do anything tonight."

"Then don't. Sit and talk and relax."

"Why didn't I stop you Monday?"

"Because you trust me. Trust me now." He stretched out a leg to claw the holo projector out of his pocket and held out the small device for his friend. "Here. Very important. You need to watch this before the pizza party. Watch it _alone_ , too."

Suspiciously, Nigel took the disk. "Why alone?"

"You'll understand when you see it."


	12. Party Shades

"So you coming to the pizza party?"

Dexter paused, washcloth in hand as he cleaned a scrape on Ben's temple. Leaning slightly to look his boyfriend in the eye, Dexter regarded Tennyson with a quizzical expression that told Ben his sanity was presently in doubt.

"You hit your head really hard, didn't you?" asked the Boy Genius.

"It's a valid question!" defended Ben.

"But pointless. No, my love, I will not. It will be far too crowded and unhygienic for me. You go and have fun and enjoy yourself, and when you get home, I'll have fun and enjoy you as well."

Ben saw nothing to complain about with such a plan. "Well, I have to go at least long enough to make sure Nigel and Chad . . ."

"Survive their first date?" suggested Dexter, resuming his gentle cleaning.

His boyfriend's touch and the dim lights and cool air were positively hypnotic after the hectic pace of this morning. Ben let himself relax, knowing he'd fall asleep soon if Dexter let him – and Dexter would most definitely let him. The Professor had cleared him after the usual post-battle physical, turning him over to Dexter for a clean-up. He didn't have a concussion, but rest was definitely the order of the day.

"Start their first date," he corrected wryly. "Slick move giving Chad that hover board."

"So he made it in time. Excellent."

 _"Just_ in time. He saved Nigel's bacon from his Fusion double."

"That's his job. I'm so glad I deafened him and had him arrested."

"You _what?"_

Dexter kissed him on the forehead. "I'll tell you tonight."

"Right. Well." He collected himself, settling down again and enjoying the rare sight of his boyfriend minus his lab coat. Ben most definitely had a thing for black turtleneck sweaters, especially when worn by fussy nerds in glasses. "I gave Nigel the recording of Chad's file. I told him to watch it alone."

"If he does, then all should be well."

"If he doesn't . . ."

"Our matchmaking skills will be called into question and Nigel will never trust us with another decision as long as we live."

Ben grimaced at so blunt an assessment. "Yeah, good point. Let's hope he listens."

"Indeed."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

_See you at the pizza party – B10_

He studied the text a few seconds before sending it off to Chad. Maybe he should have been more specific as to where since all the public space in DexLabs – the auditorium, the cafeteria, the atrium, the quad, and all the spaces in between were going to be put to use, but he had the impression that Chad would have little trouble finding him. He thought for a moment, and then sent the identical message to Nigel.

This was the first time a pizza party had happened the same day as a battle, and even though it wasn't as large a conflict as some in recent days, their victory over the Fusion Number One had been pretty complete and sweet. Everyone was in a mood to party, and given the number of anticipated revelers, Dexter had sent the kitchen staff to every bakery and ice cream parlor and pastry shop in Downtown to buy up all the desserts possible. It promised to be quite the feeding frenzy, and the halls were already crowded with excited soldiers and support teams with more pouring in every minute.

Still feeling tired, Ben wandered around and socialized. He would have liked to have Dexter with him, but so many strangers so close would have terrified his boyfriend and sent him running for cover or Sgt. Morton, whichever was closer (probably Morton). A lot of people asked about their date with Nigel and Ben happily, ruthlessly burst their bubbles. Most people took the disappointing news in stride, but Cow burst into tears and Coco stomped on his foot in revenge before strutting off. One girl hit him with a stuffed fox tail, and three girls and two boys threw duplicates of Nigel's sunglasses at him when they learned they were not the One for One. There were a few attempted Jedi mind tricks, but, comfortingly, every time Ben was declared too strong-willed to have his mind changed for him by such methods.

He spotted Eddy by the sound system in the cafeteria and closed in. The Quartermaster General eyed him at the same time and waited for him with arms crossed and scowl set to kill.

"You're the hero of the hour, Eddy," complimented Ben brightly. He liked Eddy, but he had little patience with all his endless wheeling and dealing. "We have you to thank for all this." He gestured at the milling crowd and tables set up for food and drinks.

Glowering, Eddy snapped, "And I have you to thank for giving me the _suggestion_. You made a huge mistake, Tennyson! We could have raked in a fortune!"

"You have no idea how much work you made for me with that little scheme."

"It _was_ little. You have no idea how much money there is to be made in dating services. I'm thinking of setting up a matchmaking business right here. We get a few big names in this war to sign up and our fortunes are made. By the way, are you seeing anyone? I could set you up with the perfect match. I'll even waive your application fee."

Ben shook his head. "Don't do it with Dexter's copiers or paper. He's on to you already."

Eddy's eyes narrowed sharply. "Skunk."

"I prefer Stinkfly, thanks," said Ben, handing over a pair of sunglasses he'd collected.

The sleek shades seemed to mollify Eddy's temper, and through his glares he donned them with a flourish, striking a dramatic pose and waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Wow. I can see why Number One wears them. Instant suave. The ladies won't be able to resist."

Eddy was possibly the furthest thing from sophistication on the planet, but Ben wasn't about to argue with such confidence and swagger. He put another pair of the dark glasses on in a show of manly solidarity. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Another set of sunglasses went to Mandy as she stalked through, making an appearance for appearance's sake. Not a word was exchanged as he passed them to her, but she put them on and went about her business of looking short and menacing. Ben happily left her behind as he made his way to the main lobby and then outside to the stone-paved entrance. Evening was falling and it was wonderfully warm and he was feeling rather pleased with himself. He found a spot to sit on one of the planters in the quad and kicked back to wait and enjoy some people watching.

He wasn't surprised when not much later a tall, slim figure settled down next to him. Chad was casually dressed and he carried the rolled-up hover board Dexter had loaned him. Carefully he kept his head bent and his face angled away from the people walking by to avoid recognition.

"Ben."

"Good to see you," greeted Ben. "It was even better to see you at the battle before. Awesome job against the Fusion."

Chad smiled a bit and nodded. "Thanks. I'm just glad I made it in time." He set the hover board on the planter between them. "I'm supposed to return this to you."

"Yeah, I'll get it back to Dex."

"I was very surprised to meet him."

"He said he had you arrested?" asked Ben, looking over the top of his sunglasses.

"Sort of. I really didn't expect that."

Ben chuckled. "He's usually pretty direct like that."

"He was really concerned about Nigel. He seems like a good friend."

"You got that right. This," and he jerked his thumb at the piece of technology sitting between them, "is a very good indicator that he likes you."

A bit of a sigh escaped Chad and he relaxed a little. Ben knew it was relief that at least two people in the world knew the truth about 274's status and believed in him.

"Have you spoken to Nigel?" wondered Chad, daring to look around a bit. Dusk had fallen and the crowd was thicker, and two teens sitting off to the side went mostly unnoticed.

"Not since the battle. I got mashed up pretty well and had to sleep it off. I gave him the copy of your files and told him to watch it alone. I'm just hoping he listened."

"Everything is riding on that," he said softly, and in that one statement all his pent-up fears were revealed.

"He's stubborn, but not stupid. If he wants to get mad at anyone, he can get mad at me. And if he still doesn't want to play nice and do what he's told, Dexter can always hack into their computers again and replace every file with _Kangaroo Commando_ cartoons until he does see it."

Chad was grinning, but he still said, "Please don't. Do you think he watched it?"

There was a bit of a commotion by the main entrance. Ben craned his neck to see what was going on."Oh, look," he said, spotting sunglasses and no hair heading their way. He waved. "The kid himself. Yo!"

Chad shifted and looked up, automatically pushing the hair out of his eyes. Nigel had seen Ben and now it was clear he saw and recognized Chad Dickson as well. He stopped in his tracks, mouth open and his glasses so low on his nose that his eyes – his very wide and shocked eyes – were visible.

For a moment, it seemed that time had stopped. Ben could feel the anxiety radiating off of Chad as the former KND waited to find out his fate.

Fury and hurt were written on every line of his face as Nigel savagely demanded, "What are _you_ doing here?"


	13. Pushing the Limit

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Ben felt his jaw drop. This was _not_ how things were supposed to work out. Time seemed to stop, and for a moment there was no sound, no motion, just a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that this situation had just taken a very bad turn.

"I'm guessing he didn't see it," murmured Ben slowly while beside him, Chad, who wasn't in much better shape than Tennyson, made a little noise of despair.

Nigel looked back and forth between them as if trying to decide which one he wanted to shoot first. Seeing one of his closest friends standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one of his worst enemies, Number One took a deep, unsteady breath in preparation to erupt when suddenly -

_"Nigie!"_

Lizzie's squeaky voice shattered the tension. All three young men jumped and started as Nigel's ex-girlfriend dashed out of the crowd and stood between him, his friend, and his would-be date.

"Nigie! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" She clasped her hands to her chest. "Can we talk? Please?"

"Lizzie?" Nigel gaped at her as if he'd never seen her before.

"Oh, Nigie, I miss you!" she gushed, completely unaffected by his agitation and oblivious to the drama unfolding around her. "I know you miss me, too!"

He blinked. "What? No!"

Taking advantage of this brief moment of distraction, Ben looked at his companion and quietly suggested, "Run."

Chad frowned, about to argue, but Ben cut him off.

"You know that look, dude. Run. I'll try to set him straight . . . if I can," he added doubtfully.

"But-"

Knowing they had no time, Ben picked up the collapsed hover board and shoved it into Chad's arms. "Go! There're too many KND here. Once the alarm sounds they'll be all over you. I'll get through to him. Go!"

"Stop him!" shouted the Supreme Leader, trying to dodge Lizzie. "Stop him! Traitor!"

People were turning around and muttering, trying to come up to speed on what was happening. Suddenly Ben and Chad were the focal point of the quad, an unwelcome distinction that made Ben10 grimace. More than a hundred KND and ECF troops stopped and turned, some hands straying towards guns and other weapons as stage two of Nigel Uno's love life played out before them. When a few KND operatives seemed to recognize his face, Chad saw the light.

"Run. Right."

Hastily Chad whipped open the rolled-up hover board, smashing the control to activate it. The board drew taut and powered up as Nigel struggled to free himself of his ex's clutches and reach 274 before he could escape. Falling back on years of soccer drills, Ben stepped in and hip-checked a KND operative that was trying to grab Chad's arm as he hopped on the board, knocking the Kid to the ground. Instantly Chad leaned forward, gaining altitude and speed.

"Stop him! Stop – dammit," hissed Nigel, skidding to a halt beside Ben. He glared up at Chad Dickson twenty feet overhead and gaining, and in his anger he saw only a traitor, not the sorrowful expression on the blond's face. Excited voices rose up, but the troops that were armed knew better than to draw a weapon on DexLabs' campus within a mile of Chip Morton. Unless they were under a direct attack, no one would dare risk calling down the wrath of the sergeant, especially since he could and would put all offenders in detention with Mr. Green. Very, very few things were worth that sort of torture, and so all they could do was watch as 274 veered away towards Downtown.

Nigel whirled on Ben Tennyson. "What is the meaning of this, Commander? Do you know who that _is?"_

Ben shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. Chad's successful escape gave him hope that this situation might be salvaged. "Yup."

"Do you know what he _did?"_ hissed Number One through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," Ben returned in kind, leaning in toward the shorter teen. "Do you?"

Impatience seized him. "Of course I do! I was there! I -"

"Oh? Recognize that hover board, Number One?"

That gave the furious KND pause and for a long moment he could nothing but stare. Ben knew Nigel remembered the hover board. Its configuration was too distinct to easily forget.

"Yeah," confirmed Ben as his friend started putting the pieces together, albeit slowly. "Dexter built it himself. It's a DexLabs prototype for the U.S. Army. There's exactly one in existence and this is the second time today you've seen it."

"Nigie!" Lizzie practically tackled Nigel, dragging at his arm as she tried to wheedle her way back into his affections in the worst possible way at the worst possible moment. He ignored her, too riveted to the spot for her to so much as budge him. Too focused on Ben for tact or manners, the Supreme Leader grumbled, "Lizzie, not now. Commander, explain yourself."

"Chad saved your life this afternoon."

If he had slapped Nigel he could not have gotten a more stunned response. Actually, given his expression, slapping him probably would have been the kindest thing to do right then. It might have jolted him out of shock. Nigel drew back, his spine stiffening as he stared at Ben in speechless disbelief. That was fine, because Ben had more to say.

"You didn't watch the holo projector I gave you, did you?"

He already knew the answer perfectly well, and Nigel hesitated, caught. There was a motion as Lizzie moved closer to her former boyfriend. She was about to speak when Ben cut her off sharply, fed up with her whining and clinginess. "Lizzie, we're talking and not to you. For the record, your application got tossed into the pile for anything that came from the Pits of Hell. You never had a chance." He looked through the watchful crowd and saw Hoagie moving towards them. Gesturing to him, he said,

"Number Two, get her out of here."

"You can't -"

He gave her an arch look he had learned from Dexter, shamelessly abusing his authority and dropping names. "My best friend owns this place. Watch me."

Hoagie looked to his superior. "You want a search initiated, Number One?"

"No," snapped Ben before Nigel could answer. "Hoagie . . ."

Nigel gave Ben a long, hard look before nodding his agreement.

With a smirk Number Two gestured. "Lizzie?"

She did not go quietly and eventually three ECF troops had to step in and help escort her off the property, kicking and shouting all the way. Ben was intent on Nigel and had no time for Lizzie Devine's antics. He pulled off the sunglasses the better to see in the fading light. Keeping his voice pitched low to avoid eavesdroppers, he leaned in close. He could see the exhaustion and confusion and hurt and anger in Nigel's face as he asked,

"You didn't watch it, did you?"

A little chastised, a little deflated, Number One sighed and admitted, "No. I haven't been alone since the battle."

"Well, it kind of would have explained a lot."

"Enlighten me, Ben," he demanded sharply. "Why are you associating with one of the greatest traitors in the history of the Kids Next Door?"

He could have explained, but somehow Ben didn't feel it was quite his place to tell Chad's story. Besides, he didn't know all the details and this was definitely a KND affair. "I tried. You didn't listen. You want to know why I'm hanging out with 274? You want to know why he saved your butt today? Why he's got his hands on a multimillion dollar prototype?"

 _"Yes!"_ hissed Nigel Uno, closing the distance between them to glare up at Ben.

"Then why don't you go ask him?"

The angry glare never wavered. "How? You let him go! He could be anywhere!"

He made a face. "Dude, what? You a tourist or something? He's riding DexTech." Ben pushed up his jacket sleeve and activated the comm unit in the Omnitrix, keeping eye contact all the while. "Computress, location of the hover board Chad Dickson is using."

 _"He's at the Downtown skate park, Ben,"_ the computer answered immediately.

"Thanks." To Nigel he said, "There you go."

"Why are you doing this, Commander?"

"There's a hell of a lot more to this than you're seeing, Nige, and you need to get the answers from the source." He paused and brightened, allowing himself a smile that was sure to set off his friend's temper. "That and Chad's your date for tonight."

Eyes wide, mouth gaping, the KND Supreme Leader fell back a step. He was positively weak in the knees and looked as if he'd been hit with something large and heavy and stinky. It took a few moments for him to find his voice, and when he did so, it was with a vengeance.

 _"WHAT?"_ screamed Nigel Uno in shocked disbelief.

Ben shrugged, the personification of smug satisfaction at so vocal a response. "You can thank me later."

If they hadn't been in a public place, Ben knew perfectly well Nigel's hands would have been around his throat and his air supply would have been effectively cut off. Since strangulation wasn't a viable option, he was also fortunate that looks couldn't kill, or he would have been carried out of here in a body bag. Number One drew a deep breath, stepping away from Ben. Fury was radiating off him and he hastily scanned the crowd, spotting a likely operative.

"Number 1941, give me your weapon. I'll get it back to you."

Surprised but compliant, 1941 stripped off his gun belt and handed it over to his leader, staring all the while. Ben was quick to protest.

"You don't need that, Nigel."

The KND's only answer was a supremely dirty look as he carried on buckling the Null Void gun to his hip. At that moment, Number Two returned, Lizzie-free and anxious to see the Supreme Leader arming himself. He was panting, having run from wherever it was they had deposited the annoying ex.

"Number One, wait! I'll scramble some troops -"

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut as Nigel looked at Ben10. Tennyson silently shook his head. There was a weighty pause, and then Number One said, "No. I'll call if I need backup. Commander! You and I are going to have words when I get back."

"Okay. Pie tomorrow?" suggested Ben, refusing to believe anything but good was going to come of this situation he'd masterminded. When he and Nigel met informally, it was almost always over cherry pie and coffee. The fact that Nigel had refused Hoagie's immediate offer of more operatives told Ben that even though he was pushing it to the limit, the trust was still there. He was being deliberately annoying, but if Nigel and Chad actually managed to talk, Ben knew his friend's attitude was due for a radical revision.

Shaking his head in angry disgust, Nigel Uno adjusted his glasses and brought his heels sharply together, igniting his rocket shoes. Ben, Number Two and Number 1941 fell back as he launched into the evening sky, heading straight for the skate park. Everyone in the quad watched the brilliant flames arc across the sky until Nigel vanished from sight as their fearless leader zoomed off to do . . . fearless leader stuff.

Knowing perfectly well that Ben was _up to something_ , Hoagie fixed him with his own brand of steely-eyed gaze. He folded his arms across his chest and let his breath out slowly, burning with equal amounts of anxiety and curiosity. Not surprisingly, his fury wasn't nearly as impressive as Nigel's. A long minute ticked by.

"Pizza?" suggested Ben.

"Sure. And just so you know, if he asks me to help him kill you tomorrow, I'll do it."

Ben smiled and promised, "He won't ask."


	14. The Perfect Date

The evening was clear and light from the city below made it easy to see as he flew. Cool air whipped his clothes as he pressed his hands tight against his sides to keep his body streamline. His shoes contained limited fuel and it behooved him to conserve as much of it as he possibly could.

Nigel Uno's thoughts and emotions were a jumbled mess. The battle today had shaken him more than he wanted to admit even to himself, and to find out that it was Chad Dickson who had saved him . . . Old memories of friendship and camaraderie and . . . yes, love, dammit. He'd had a tremendous crush on Chad back when he was eight . . . then nine . . . eleven . . . Fine, yes, he'd never outgrown the feeling. It had settled down to something more refined and enduring over time as his respect and admiration for the older boy had grown. In his young fantasies, Chad had returned the affection. In reality, 274 had offered him friendship and guidance when he had needed it most, stepping into the role of brother and mentor and setting a sterling example not just of a KND operative, but as a human being.

274's betrayal and his defection to the Teen Ninjas had been one of the worst, most painful moments in Nigel's life, and after more than eight years of fighting adult tyranny and now the invasion from Planet Fusion, Nigel Uno had experienced more pain and loss than people two or three or even four times his age. The depth of anguish was a measure of his love, and if Chad had died, Nigel's sense of loss could not have been greater.

Why had Dickson risked his life to save him today? And why was Ben Tennyson, one of his closest friends, _defending_ a traitor? This traitor? Ben had chosen Chad to be his date for the night. Had the Omnitrix finally addled Tennyson's brain? What was he thinking? Was he thinking?

What had Chad told him? How had he answered the questions on the application? Suddenly Nigel was consumed with curiosity to know as he recalled the application. At first it had seemed silly, but right now he would have gladly paid any price to see what 274 had written to convince his friend. Though occasionally foolish, Ben was no fool. For him to be won over, the argument must have been compelling. He was so confident in his choice, to a point that Nigel felt his resolve weaken in the face of such assurance.

Equally unsettling to his state of mind was the fact that Dexter was helping facilitate the whole situation. He had made the whole application process possible and had helped Ben throughout. Nigel knew how closely Dexter guarded his privacy and his inventions. The only way Chad could have gotten his hands on that hover board was if Dexter or one of the top scientists at DexLabs had given it to him, and even then his employees would never give it out without Dexter's blessing. Dexter trusted Ben completely and if Ben trusted Chad, it stood to reason that Dexter did as well.

Why? He had betrayed . . . everything. The KND . . . his friends . . . Nigel . . .

It was all very confusing. He was sorely regretting not locking himself in a bathroom stall or a closet and watching that recording. It was a mistake on his part. As he angled toward Downtown's skate park, he accepted the fact that he was thinking with his heart and not his head. He needed to focus on what the situation _was_ , not what he wanted or expected it to be. Nigel prided himself on his common sense and keeping a cool head. Both had been sorely lacking in that brief scene at DexLabs. It was time to apply logic, not emotion, regardless of how illogical and emotional the situation might be.

Time, however, was not his friend as he was fast approaching his target. He slowed his forward motion and hovered in midair for a brief moment, surveying the skate park. The area was deserted since all the kids that would normally be using it were at DexLabs enjoying the pizza party, and he spotted Chad almost instantly where he had landed atop one of the ramps. Unfortunately, his rockets shoes were noisy brutes and it was impossible to hide his approach from his quarry. Chad spotted him, and after one quick glance where he looked like a deer in the headlights, he bolted.

The chase was on for real. Nigel flew after him, too caught up in the moment and the chase to question if this was really the sensible thing to do. He needed answers and he needed them now. They wove through Downtown, past gleaming white buildings with their neon lights and the many parks and gardens throughout the city. It has sprung up around DexLabs and the whole place was new, a young and vibrant city that showcased the best that technology and nature had to offer. They tore through the air, over and through traffic, darting between buildings, skimming over parked vehicles, and whipping past trees and bushes, startling whole flocks of pigeons and starlings as they passed.

His heels were growing hot as Number One pushed the rocket shoes to their limit, and his body ached as he angled this way and that to keep pace with the wild course, but the thrill of a high-speed chase went far towards easing his frustration. He followed Chad's wake with dogged determination, past town hall and the spaceport and through a botanical garden where the scent of flowers temporarily banished the smell of rocket fuel. He was gaining every passing moment, too intent on keeping that blond hair in sight to realize that Chad wasn't going anywhere near as fast as he could on the DexTech hover board. It wouldn't be until later that Nigel considered the sheer insanity of doing this alone and realized that 274 was letting himself be caught.

A faint sputter told him his shoes were running out of fuel. Nigel growled, forced to drop lower to the ground to reduce drag. Chad glanced back before angling sharply between two identical buildings. He stopped short when his alley proved not to be an alley at all, but a high wall cutting across his path where the buildings were connected. He leaned back, slowing hard and finally jumping off the board before he smacked into the wall. Just a few yards behind him, Number One came to an awkward, stumbling landing. His skinned knees complained loudly at the abrupt impact and motion, but he managed to keep his footing, effectively blocking 274's retreat.

"Stop right there!" panted Nigel. His throat was dry and he tried to swallow, fighting to speak normally. He drew the borrowed Null-Void and aimed it right at Chad. "Don't move, teenager!"

To Nigel's complete surprise, Chad actually smiled. He was panting and winded and leaning on his knees, but he nonetheless acted as if everything was right in the world and there wasn't a laser gun pointed at his head. He made no move to run, which was a good thing since Nigel knew there was no way he'd be able to pursue him.

"That was fun," Chad gasped, as hoarse as Nigel. He grinned, blue eyes bright, and his next statement threw the Supreme Leader for a loop. "I've missed you, Nigel."

"Oh, right," he snapped, at a loss as to what to say. "Step away from the hover board, _Chad."_

"I have," defended Chad, still smiling as he took a few steps back from the faintly glowing board. "I miss talking to you and even just sitting around and being with you."

"That may have been – until you turned traitor."

"I'm not a traitor. Listen -"

"What did you say to Ben to convince him?"

"I told him the truth," was the quiet reply.

His whole belief system was being not just challenged, but upended. Nigel tightened his grip on the Null-Void. He could feel his hands tremble and angrily told himself it was just fatigue. He had seen Chad occasionally since he had turned on the Kids Next Door. Normally their exchanges consisted of insults and taunts. To hear him speak so calmly – as a friend even – and to be close enough to see his piercing blue eyes was highly disconcerting. Chad Dickson had always been a handsome boy, and he was growing into a remarkably attractive young man. Up until the time he joined the Teen Ninjas, Nigel had always felt inadequate next to the older boy. Despite his status as Supreme Leader, he could not help but sense a tinge of that old inferiority complex that being short, bald, and awkward generated when standing next to an Adonis.

"Dexter and Ben hacked into the KND computer network to read my file -"

"What? No! That was the Kremlin!"

"No, that was Dexter." He gestured with both hands. "Would the Kremlin give us the latest _Sumo Slammers_ game?"

That was a valid point, but Nigel was not yet ready to cede an inch. Rather than argue, he latched onto a single word. _"Us?"_

"Us," confirmed Chad fiercely, combing his fingers through his bangs in a gesture so familiar that Nigel felt a pang in his chest at the sight.

"Dexter wouldn't do that!"

"He would for someone he cares about!" He pointed at the hover board. "How do you think I got this?"

"Stolen."

"What, from DexLabs? Hardly. Dexter loaned it to me so I could reach Reunion Station today."

Nigel licked his lips, remembering the cold, oily feel of his Fusion's hand tightening around his throat like a vise. He was here only because of Chad's very timely intervention.

"And what exactly were you doing at Reunion Station today? What business would a Teen Ninja have there?"

"I was doing my job."

"Your job? Well I'm still here, so you're obviously not doing very well on that score."

A small smile answered this accusation, and Chad gazed at him, as sad as he was fond. "Actually, you're still here, so I'm doing a really good job, Nigel."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His prisoner tried a new tack. "Ben gave you a holo projector today after the battle. He told me he did."

"What of it?"

"You need to watch it. All of it. Please."

"What – here? Now?"

"Yes. Look, take the board. I can't get anywhere without it." He nudged the hover board with his foot and it drifted an inch off the ground until it bumped into Nigel's boot. "See that button on the end? That'll power it down. I'll sit here and I won't move. I swear. I'll even lie on the ground if you want. Just please, watch it."

He wanted answers. It seemed he had them all already, waiting for him. Slowly Nigel transferred the Null-Void to his left hand, wondering at the feeling building inside his chest. It wasn't fear. It wasn't anxiety. Was it hope?

"Sit," he ordered, and to his own ears his voice sounded hollow. "Keep your hands on the ground."

The former 274 obeyed without hesitation, watching him intently. Number One stole a glance at the hover board and saw the button Chad had pointed out. He tapped it with his foot and instantly the board dropped, loosening the segments to allow for storage. Satisfied it was secure for the moment, Nigel reached into the pocket of his cargo shorts and pulled out the device Ben had given him earlier that day. Before he could consider the consequences, he activated it.

He'd seen the first video file that played – it was the old bio film that had been put together by KND's internal investigation after 274 had tried to decommission Sector V and destroy the moon base.

"I've seen this," he snapped.

"Nigel, just stop talking and watch," Chad demanded irritably, sounding exactly like the Supreme Leader he had once been.

He harrumphed and shifted his attention back to the video log, holding it so he could watch the files and Mr. Dickson at the same time.

Not even a minute into the next file he felt his whole body quaver as he watched twelve-year-old Chad Dickson speak to someone off camera.

_" . . . have any idea of how many people are going to get hurt by my actions if I do this? These are my friends!"_

_"We know. We're prepared to deal with that. But we need someone on the inside working for us. If we give the Teen Ninjas a victory, we can get them to recruit you before you're decommissioned. They'll want someone they think is disillusioned with us. You're a hero, you were Supreme Leader, you know all our secrets – they'll think they've won."_

_For a long while the blond thought, emotions playing across his face as he weighed the consequences of his decision. Finally he looked up._

_"I won't be able to tell anyone?"_

_"No one. You'll be branded a traitor. You'll be hated. But you'll still be a Kids Next Door operative even through your teens."_

_Chad sighed, pursing his lips, and finally he nodded. "I'll do it. Just . . . I'll_ really _have to convince everyone."_

_"Don't worry. We have a plan."_

God, had they ever been so young?

The footage continued, a brief snippet of a video call that was so very, very telling.

_Chad yanked his helmet off, shoving his hair out of his eyes as he leaned close to the communicator and spoke softly. "Number One figured it out a bit sooner than we expected, so I'll be going with Plan A and try to take out the moon base. Be ready for it. If I can't get the Teens' attention I'll be in touch, but buzzing the Lincoln house with the rocket ought to alert Cree that something's out of sorts. Keep Number 86 on a long leash – even the Teens will get word if she decommissions Sector V. Just . . . just make sure -" There was a loud noise like a door slamming open. Eyes wide, he looked over his shoulder before he pulled his helmet back on. "Gotta go. Wish me luck."_

Another day, reporting in for another mission.

 _"Wait –_ what? _You want me to dress up as_ whose _mom?"_

More scenes flashed past Nigel's eyes, more missions as Chad reported in to the KND. Nigel recognized some of the events and villains he mentioned. Sometimes Chad was being deployed to assist Kids on their missions, other times he offered details of whatever plans the Teen Ninjas had brewing, and occasionally he got caught in the cross fire.

_"Did you know they have a SKUNK?" he demanded savagely, looking as if he'd crawled through an acre of poison ivy. He was coughing and gagging and positively green and his eyes were watering. "I . . . I can't talk. Oh, crud, I can taste it. I have to get some tomato juice. I can't believe they have a skunk . . ."_

Nigel fought to keep from smiling. Bradley had made a fine Number Six once you got past the smell.

_"Cree is working for Father. I don't know what his intent is, but she reports directly to him and he's sent her on a few missions. I'll try to find out what she's up to, but you guys are going to have to let us screw up a couple of missions for Sector V or everyone's going to be on to me."_

If only he had known. But then, he never would have been able to keep up a façade. How had Chad managed it?

 _"You'll be happy to know the Gangreen Gang will_ not _be joining the Teen Ninjas."_

_"How'd you manage that?"_

_Despite having a cast on his leg and reporting from a hospital bed, Chad was smiling triumphantly. "I just got them to show their true colors."_

Nigel stared, recognizing the girl's voice in the last clip. "Rachel?" He looked through the hologram to where 274 sat with his hands pressed to the ground. Chad nodded.

"She didn't recruit me, but when she became Supreme Leader I reported to her."

"So all this time – all these missions – she knew?"

Chad leveled a challenging look at his date. "Knew what?"

He couldn't answer. Not yet. Because when he did answer that question, even if it was just to himself, he knew that there would be no going back.


	15. Point of No Return

_". . . rotten, miserable traitor to everything we stand for. He's exactly the sort of teen and future adult that the Kids Next Door was established to combat. He took everything we had to offer and now he's out there laughing as he uses it against us! And what's worse, he's subverting our own recruits!"_

Nigel felt an intense, burning shame as he watched a recording of himself ranting about Chad. He recognized the incident. Number Twelve's betrayal of the Kids Next Door, all in the name of impressing her hero 274, still rankled. Granted he was all of eleven years old and completely ignorant, but even to his own ears he sounded extreme.

_"It's possible Number Twelve was working alone. I'm waiting for word on her debriefing. I had to get Number Twenty Questions in here to interview her since Eighty-Six is compromised."_

Compared to Number One, 362 sounded completely composed and in control of her emotions. He understood now how the Supreme Leader could be so calm, but at the time it had offended him and fueled his own anger.

_"Oh, please! As if she could come up with something so diabolical on her own!"_

_"Why not? She's been in the Kids Next Door since she was eight, just like us."_

_"Are you defending that turncoat?"_

_"No,"_ Rachel said, and now he could hear the strain in her voice as she strove to make him see reason. _"I'm trying to get you to stop jumping to conclusions and not rush to judgment until we have all the facts."_

Of course she had been right, and though in the hologram Nigel looked defiant still, her words had stayed with him and taught him a lesson about patience and leadership. Before being decommissioned, Number Twelve had confessed her crimes, confirming that she had acted alone for the sake of trying to gain the attention and approval of the handsome, romantic outcast and get a good reference for the Teen Ninjas. Rachel had never called Nigel on his error in assuming the former 274 was to blame for Twelve's betrayal, and the subject was never raised between them again.

He wasn't sure at what point he lowered the Null-Void. He wasn't even aware he'd done it until the long barrel of the gun brushed against his aching knee. For a moment he focused on Chad, still sitting with his hands on the ground and watching him.

"How did you come by all these logs?" Nigel heard himself ask.

"Number 362 compiled most of them for me," was the quiet reply. "I was reporting to her the longest. It's standard procedure to record and encrypt all the reports from the teenage operatives just in case they ever . . . need to prove their loyalty."

The final file opened and began to run. There were fewer reports, but it was evident that 274's frustration was growing as the missions came fast and furious and increasingly complex. When 362 asked Chad to keep her safe, Nigel felt a pang, remembering how professional and fearless and genuinely nice Rachel had been. He wasn't fit to fill her shoes, and yet, here he was.

How had her loss affected the young man sitting so quietly before him?

_"It's called Planet Fusion," Magister Gilhil explained. "We Plumbers have been aware of its approach to planet Earth for some time now. It's a living mass that consumes celestial bodies and anything else it can absorb - a parasite that's destroyed countless systems."_

_"Can it be fought?" asked Chad, standing tall beside 362's chair. They were staring with horror at the image of Planet Fusion that momentarily replaced Gilhil's image on the screen._

_"Yes," the Plumber said, speaking to them as the peers they were. "A scientist from your planet has devised an effective means of fighting it. However, Planet Fusion will affect your planet as a whole, and every person that can fight will be called upon to defend against the Fusion spawn. We're coming to you first because the Kids Next Door is established in every habitated land mass, with better, more open lines of communication and cooperation than we've found any government or military. With your permission, Supreme Leader, we'll be sending the magister from Earth, Max Tennyson, to your moon base to establish contact and start coordinating the war effort."_

_"We're not at war," corrected 362, leaning forward on her desk for emphasis._

_"Yet," was Gilhil's final reply, and the transmission ended._

_"What are we going to do?" wondered Rachel, falling back into her seat. She looked very young and very tired._

_"We're going to have to step up recruitment and keep as many trained operatives as we possibly can," Chad replied. "Starting with you and Sector V's command team."_

_"Me?" Her surprise was genuine._

_"You're the best Supreme Leader we've had in years. We can't lose you. And we can't lose Nigel or his team. They're the best we have."_

The holo projector powered down. There were no more files. There was nothing left but two weary young men who had far more in common than first realized. Nigel clutched the projector tightly in his fist as he slowly lowered his arm. Did he have Chad to thank for avoiding decommissioning? He remembered his own growing fear of his thirteenth birthday, and the glimmer of understanding for the lengths Chad had seemingly gone to in order to avoid the fate of growing older.

Suddenly he was exhausted beyond measure. The adrenalin that had seen him through to this moment seemed to drain away, leaving him feeling empty and wasted and weak. He holstered the Null-Void gun, embarrassed at its presence and his willingness to use it, and slowly sank to the ground opposite Chad. He stared at the young man that had so infatuated and intrigued him, and he found himself saying words he never would have expected to want to say, let alone needed to say. He could only speak very softly, and his voice betrayed the depth of his remorse as he said,

"I believe I owe you an apology, Number 274."

Chad sat up straight, shifting his legs to lean back against the building behind him. All teenage swagger and arrogance aside, he gazed at Nigel with undisguised relief, smiling faintly at the knowledge that three people believed him now.

"And I owe you an explanation, Number One." He gestured at the spot of ground right next to him. "Sit with me?"

"Are you sure?"

"Well, either I go to you or you come to me, but I've got a wall to share and you look ready to drop."

Nigel slumped even further at this truth, but he warmed to the invitation and despite the sense that his personal gravity had tripled, he eventually mustered enough energy to shift the few feet over to sit not quite right next to 274, but close enough. Blue eyes watched his every move as he leaned back against the wall with a sigh. It was a while before he could bring himself to actually look at Chad. That faint smile was still there, and it gave him such hope as he had not known in ages.

"I've missed you," Chad said again.

"Me too," he admitted, and the full scope of what he'd lost over those years seemed to hit him all at once. But Chad was here, smiling, open and talking. Perhaps it wasn't impossible that what had been lost could be regained. "More than I can say. I'm very sorry, Chad. For all I've ever said and thought and did."

"So am I. I had a few choice moments when I really wanted to strangle you."

"No. You were doing exactly what you were supposed to."

"So were you, Nigel, even if you didn't know it." A twinge of bitterness crossed his face. "That didn't make it any easier, though."

"No, I suppose it didn't." He pushed his glasses back into place, edging a little closer to the older teen. "Tell me more."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Chad's smile turned into a chuckle at this very Nigel Uno-ish answer. "That'll take days."

"Okay," he answered, thinking that was an excellent way to spend a few days.

274 looked at him, and in his expression Nigel could read his silent delight at the prospect. "Where do you want to start?"

"Do you know anything about what happened to the moon base?"

"No. I think it's Infected, like the reports said."

"Rachel?"

He shook his head, unable to speak further on the subject.

"How did you escape?"

Drawing a deep breath, Chad said, "I didn't. I was here. It was Mom's birthday. You know what she's like."

"Yeee-ah," Number One replied. Mega Mom was highly territorial when it came to her only child and more than capable of mass destruction if anything kept him from family events.

"So I missed that disaster," said Chad with a rather helpless gesture. "I know I probably couldn't have made a difference if I was there, but . . . I still feel guilty. It's my job to protect the Supreme Leader."

"Is that why you're here now?"

"In part," he admitted. "I was really glad when you were appointed. Trust me, Nigel, you've got what it takes to lead the Kids Next Door. I've been trying to figure out how to contact you when I heard what Ben was up to, trying to score you a date."

Nigel let out a little groan and leaned his head back on the smooth wall. "I owe him an apology as well, I'm afraid."

Chad shook his head. "Don't sweat it. Once he narrowed down the field to me, he figured you'd want to kill him. Besides, he and Dexter hacked into our computer network."

"I'm so glad they did. And not just for the new _Sumo Slammers_ game."

"So am I. There was no way I would have been able to decipher all those files and they were the only proof I had of what I've been up to." He leaned his head back as well, turning to look at the younger teen. "You have some very good friends, Number One."

Nigel gazed at him steadily. "Yes," he agreed softly. "I do."

"And also . . . I really wanted to see you again. Ben's application seemed like a really good opportunity."

"The more I thought about it, the crazier the idea seemed, but Ben's a man of his word and once he sets his mind to something, there's no stopping him. Dexter was probably the saving grace in this business."

"I never thought I'd be happy to be arrested in my life."

Nigel sat up straight. "Arrested?"

He was able to laugh now, now that the sickening anxiety he'd felt was just a memory. "Sgt. Morton hauled me in this morning so Dexter could threaten me. Like I said, you have very good friends."

"Sounds like him. Why did he threaten you? The hover board?"

Combing his fingers through his windblown bangs, Chad said, "Uh, no."

"What, then?"

"You."

"Me?"

"I hurt you, Nigel. I know I did. Five years ago, for all you or anyone else knew, I'd thrown away everything I'd sworn to uphold and everything you believed in and our friendship and whatever else we might have had."

He laid his hand on Chad's arm. "I know the truth now."

"But that doesn't change the past five years. So, anyway, Dexter promised that if I hurt you that way again, I'd regret it." He blinked. "I _really_ think he meant it."

"Knowing Dexter, I'm sure he did."

"I feel like I met your parents. Your overprotective parents."

"It's only fair, since I've met yours."

They laughed, and after a few moments the humor was replaced by an awkward sadness as they realized how much they had missed out on. They were silent for a little while, until Chad softly promised,

"I wouldn't do that again, Nigel."

Tension left him, and Nigel sagged against his friend, closing his eyes. "Good."

There was nothing uncomfortable in the silence they shared after that. Several minutes passed, and Nigel knew he would sit there all night if he could. Pulling off his sunglasses, he listened to the sounds of the city, felt the heat radiating off the pavement and the warmth and life of the young man beside him. He had not felt so at peace in a very long time. Not for five years, in fact.

"Now what?" he heard himself ask.

"It's my job to protect the Supreme Leader, and I'm going to keep doing it no matter what. No one can know what I'm doing. I'm still in the Teen Ninjas, senior division, but they think I'm taking the summer off for advanced violin lessons before I go to college." He was completely serious as he addressed not his friend, but his superior. "Having you know what I'm up to will take a lot of pressure off and make my job easier, but no matter what, if we're ever seen together by anyone we know outside of Tennyson and Dexter, you have to treat me like the enemy – shooting, shouting, have me arrested, the works. You've got to promise me. Just shoot to miss, okay? We can come up with a few plausible cover stories just in case, and - What?" he wondered when Nigel stared at him.

"That's excellent planning, but . . . I was thinking of right now, actually."

"Oh." Reined in, Chad looked contrite, realizing he was focused much further down the line than his companion. Ben had handed him this opportunity and he dared not waste a moment of it. "Right. We're on a date. Right?" he added anxiously, looking for confirmation.

"If you like," Nigel answered, finding 274's intensity as charming and appealing as he had when he was eight years old.

"I like."

"Me too." He could not keep from smiling any more than he could keep the sense of elation welling up within him at the thought that he was actually on a date with his boyhood crush. It was a wonderful, heady sensation, and a nice counterbalance to his anger before and the fear in the midst of battle. "What did you have in mind to do?"

"Honestly? I just wanted to avoid getting shot and just spend time with you. We can do anything you want. Hungry?"

"Starving," he said, realizing it was true.

"Buy you a burger?"

"That sounds perfect."

With a groan and a heave, Chad climbed to his feet, stretching his back before reaching down to give Nigel a hand. He hauled the younger teen up, looking him over and smiling at what he saw.

"You know . . . there's another reason I applied."

"Oh?" There was more? So much had been revealed, so many emotions brought to light, so much to think about. What more could there be?

Chad laid a hand on Nigel's shoulder. "There's something I've wanted to do for a couple of years now."

A flicker of doubt flitted through his mind. Was he about to get hit? Was this an act, or – _no_. He had sensed the candor in every word Chad had told him. His friends weren't easily fooled, and Dexter had more than enough fire power to back up his threats if he saw the need to reduce anyone to a pile of ash. Thus reassured, he asked,

"What's that?"

Said 274, "This."

The hand tightened on his shoulder shifted to grip his sweater and yank Nigel in until he was pressed full against the blond. He barely had time to register the heat of Chad's body, the faint sheen of sweat on his skin, and the smell of soap before his breath was stolen away by a kiss.

Feeling the warm contact against his mouth and the brush of breath against his cheek that sent his heart racing, it suddenly occurred to Nigel that he had never really been kissed before. Not like this. Not with such passion. Those childish exchanges with Lizzie – never so long and never so deep and never with another body right against him and holding him so close he could feel every muscular curve and contour – didn't even count. Quick pecks and the occasional snuggle and holding hands could not compare to the heat of Chad's lips and the strong arms that twined around his waist and pulled him closer. It took all of a second for these thoughts to flash through Nigel's head before he was kissing Chad back with equal desire. His glasses were knocked off in their enthusiasm. He heard them clatter to the ground and he absolutely did not care because Chad's hair was so soft beneath his fingers and their bodies fit together so perfectly. With a sudden thrill he understood what he had wanted, what he had needed for all these years.

This. This feeling, this young man, these lips. All of it, all of him. Always.


	16. Epilogue: Two Words

_"_ _Number One, are you okay? Number One, report."_

He had no idea of the time or how long it had been since he'd left DexLabs or sat laughing in an all-night diner eating a burger and enough French fries for four people or of anything, really, except for the feel of Chad's arms around his waist as he leaned back against the taller teen. Chad's head rested on his shoulder and save for Number Two's urgent voice interrupting the moment, Nigel Uno was perfectly content.

"Took 'em long enough," grumbled Chad in disapproval.

"I'm sure Ben had something to do with any delays," he replied as Chad's hold tightened possessively.

The blond pressed a small kiss against his neck. "I have to thank him."

"So do I." Grinning, Number One finally activated his comm unit. "Number One here, Number Two."

 _"_ _Are you okay? Do you need assistance? I can send back-up."_ He sounded frantic, as if he'd just woken up and realized Nigel was missing.

"I'm fine," promised Nigel. "Never better, in fact. I'll let you know when I'm back in quarters and I'll meet with you tomorrow."

 _"_ _You're sure?"_ pressed Hoagie, speaking not as a KND operative but as a friend.

"Very. Thank you."

 _"_ _All right,"_ was the skeptical reply. _"See you tomorrow, Number One."_

"What time is it?" wondered Chad.

Nigel closed his eyes and leaned back, snuggling close again. "I'm sure it's on my comm unit but I don't really care."

His wrist was lifted and turned as Chad checked the time before lacing their fingers together.

"All right, what time is it?"

"Two AM and change."

"Must have been some party."

"Sorry you missed it?"

"Not in the slightest." He sighed, knowing that despite his comfort and content, he needed to get back to DexLabs and his quarters and get some sleep. Recognizing as much, Chad finally said,

"Come on. I'll get you back. Can you get the hover board back to Dexter for me?"

"Of course. And if anyone asks, I wrestled it away from you."

"You won't be lying."

Progress was delayed as they both laughed themselves breathless. They were exhausted and stiff and aching and it took a few minutes for them to actually get moving. They had been sitting on a hill overlooking Downtown, both of them anxious for a spot where they could talk and act freely. Nigel got the feeling they would be seeing a lot of this little patch of trees and flowers in the future.

"Where will you go?"

Leaning over, Chad activated the hover board. "There's a Teen Ninja safe house under the Kwik-E-Mart we passed on the way to the diner. I've been staying there."

Nigel felt a pang, having once been in one of the Teen Ninja bases. It hadn't struck him as particularly clean or comfortable. "You're sure? You could . . ."

A brilliant smile was his reward for trying to suggest Chad stay with him. "I need to check in with them anyway. Nigel, we have _got_ to maintain our cover. Your position as Supreme Leader could be compromised, not to mention your safety. This is _not_ going to be easy but . . . it'll be easier now that you know."

"I'll do anything I can to help."

Chad sparked to this. "Really?"

"Of course!"

A little hum escaped Chad's throat and paired with the suggestive look in his eyes, Nigel knew he was going to like whatever followed. Pulling him in close once again, 274 whispered right in his ear,

"Then leave your window unlocked when you go to bed tonight."

Nigel smiled and felt a rush of heat to his face. He was glad it was dark so Chad wouldn't see him blush so furiously and he felt his whole body tense with anticipation.

"I can do that," he said, and sealed the promise with a kiss.

**_()()()()()()()()()()_ **

"Would you excuse us, please? I need to speak to Commander Tennyson in private."

Ben, Edd, Eddy, Bubbles, and Nazz - most of whom were wearing replica Nigel Uno sunglasses - had been so engrossed in their gossip and post-party debriefing that they hadn't noticed the arrival of the Kids Next Door Supreme Leader. The lively conversation was quashed immediately as they took in their friend's bearing. There was a distinct, business-like air about Number One, and his demeanor and posture would tolerate no nonsense today. Feet planted firmly, arms crossed, glasses on, he wore a stern expression and his mouth was pressed in a tight line as he regarded his target. Duly impressed and not about to tangle with Nigel when he was clearly on the warpath, the teens slipped out of the booth in the cafeteria where they had met for coffee, glancing back as they left Ben 10 to his fate.

For a long moment the two young men were silent as Nigel made sure they wouldn't be overheard. Leaning forward, he said tightly, "Last night I told you we'd be having words."

Ben sat and waited in silence, uncertain as to where this was going to go.

"I have exactly two words for you, Commander," snapped Number One, and Ben braced for impact. Nigel's demeanor never changed as he said, "Thank you."

Ben blinked, realizing he was being teased most royally. In that instant, though his posture remained the same, Nigel's whole attitude turned from flinty to jubilant. Ben fought to keep from laughing out loud and his friend was in exactly the same condition. He gestured in wordless inquiry, biting his lip expectantly. The Supreme Leader nodded and hugged himself tighter.

"Mission accomplished?" asked Ben softly, sensing his friend was about to bust out singing.

Nigel struggled to contain his excitement and to find a means of expressing himself. "Accomplished, fulfilled, thrilled - I don't know if there are enough words to describe what I'm feeling."

"The private dining room off the main entrance in five minutes. Tell me about it over some pie."

"Make it three minutes. I can't wait so long."

_**()()()()()()()()()()** _

"We done good, Dex."

Test tube in hand, an array of containers filled with acids and bases spread out on the table before him, the redhead looked up from where he was attempting - unsuccessfully so far - to make a decent vinaigrette to go on the salad with tonight's dinner. He glanced at Ben before glaring at the bottles of vinegar, dissatisfied with the lot of them.

"No, Ben, we did well."

"That, too," he agreed.

"Wine or champagne?" he asked, holding up two bottles.

"Wine."

Two more bottles were displayed. "Red or white?"

"Red."

"You don't care in the least, do you?"

"Nope."

With a growl Dexter plunked the vinegars down and turned to the overabundance of oils available to him, knowing he was outmatched. Giving in to his culinary frustrations, he demanded, "Why can't I cook when I can science?"

"Cooking is an art," said Ben, enjoying the show.

"And I'm a scientist and not an artist. Well said, my love. That explains everything." He pulled off his goggles and pushed the beakers and racks of test tubes away. "Blossom can make the dressing."

"En how."

He started putting the bottles away, bustling about the kitchen. "And speaking of Blossom, were you ever going to tell me she applied to be Nigel's girlfriend?"

"Nope."

Dexter gave him a look. Ben was completely unaffected and unrepentant.

"Hey, my mom didn't raise a fool." Before Dexter could argue, his phone pinged as a text arrived. Ben smiled as he read it. "Number Five," he reported, knowing he could easily distract Dexter's squall of temper. "She says she owes me some chili fries. We had a bet about me finding Nigel a date."

"And you won. Do any of them know?"

"No. Nigel gave them some song and dance about privacy and security which . . . given the situation really isn't a song and dance routine at all. But after Lizzie, Sector V's really not interested in _who_ so long as Nigel is happy."

"That's good." He paused, turning to look at his boyfriend. "Is he?"

Ben grinned. "Deliriously."

Dexter nodded thoughtfully. "I know the feeling."

"Yeah, me too."


End file.
